Department to inspect homes, says
MB
The Star 31/3/2005
IPOH: The Mineral and Geoscience Department will check on the safety of
houses around the Kuala Dipang area, where the home of a Telekom Malaysia
technician collapsed on Tuesday.
The department will also report to the state government about the area,
which is prone to sinkholes.
Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamad Tajol Rosli Ghazali, who issued these
directives to the department, urged developers to carry out proper piling
before constructing houses on former mining land.
He said that after last December’s earthquake in Sumatra, 45 sinkholes
appeared at a fruit plantation in Jeram, just 3km from Kuala Dipang.
Similarly, after Tuesday’s earthquake near Nias island in Indonesia, six
sinkholes appeared under the double-storey house in Kampung Cabang Dua,
belonging to technician Abdul Razak Shamsuddin, causing it to collapse.
Tajol Rosli said it would be costly for the department to carry out a
study on underground cavities and developers could help by doing proper
piling for their projects.
Met at his damaged home yesterday, Abdul Razak, 44, said he wants the
authorities to complete their investigations fast.
He had gone to the site to look for personal belongings and important
documents like identity cards, but was prevented by the police, who told
him the authorities had yet to complete their investigations.
“I hope the Mineral and Geoscience Department and other relevant
authorities can complete their investigations fast.
“At the moment we have only a few clothes and some cash donated by
well-wishers,” he said, adding that he has rented a house at Taman Harmoni,
about a kilometre from the damaged site.
Abdul Razak’s wife Norshah Rizan Abdul Mutalib, 45, is an executive
officer at the Batu Gajah Hospital. Two of their children – Nurul Hidayah,
14, and Nurul Izzah, 13 – are students of SMK Kampar, while a 10-year-old
daughter Nurul Atikah studies at SK Kuala Dipang.
None of the children went to school yesterday as they had lost their
school uniforms and textbooks.
Kampar district Welfare Department assistant officer Mohd Basharudin
Samsudin said the department donated dried foodstuff to the family as a
temporary measure over the next few days.
“We are compiling all necessary data about the family and once completed,
we will submit it to the state Welfare Department for the necessary
financial aid,” he said.
Officers from the department would also be sent to give counselling to the
three children who were still in a state of shock, he added. |
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