Mudslide danger not over

Mudslide danger not over
Friday April 14, 2006

IPOH: Beware of mudslides when you use the Kampung Raja-Pos Slim road to the Cameron Highlands. Motorists are warned that the incident along the stretch on Tuesday could recur.

Perak Public Works Department director Datuk Wong Wai Ching said he could not rule out this possibility along the ungazetted stretch, as logs and rocks from the hilltop that caused the mudslide had not been completely cleared.

“We have cleared the mud and debris from the road but not the logs and rocks from the 300-metre hilltop,” he told reporters outside the Perak state assembly here yesterday.

Wong added that the department had requested the Works Ministry to set aside some funds for immediate remedial works along the stretch.

He said clearing the logs and rocks at the top of the hill was costly but, in the meantime, the department would carry out aerial surveillance on the slope and hilltop from a helicopter.

Tuesday’s mudslide, which covered 30 metres of the road, was triggered by water retention at the hilltop due to logs being stacked there.

State Infrastructure and Public Utilities committee chairman Datuk Ho Cheng Wang had confirmed that logs and felled trees left behind by loggers caused the retention of rainwater and mud on the hilltop.

Trader S. Nareshkumar, 21, was nearly buried inside his car during the incident.



Source: The Star