Tanjung Bungah assemblyman scathing in his criticism of Penang state govt

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government should be fully responsibe for the landslide in Tanjung Bungah which buried 14 workers, three of whom have died, Tanjung Bungah assemblyman Teh Yee Cheu said.
Cheu who has been critical of what he calls, excessive development on the hills at Penang, urged the state to halt all projects for now.
He pointed out that he had raised this issue numnerous times at the state legislative assembly, only for the matter to fall on deaf ears.
"I sincerely apologise to everyone for this," he told theSun when contacted.
Search and rescue operations were still ongoing, to locate the missing victims.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has ordered a full investigation to be conducted.
In the 8.50am incident, 14 people comprising of Bangladeshis, Indonesians, Myanmar nationals, Pakistanis and a local were buried alive at a construction site in the Lembah Permai neighbourhood.
The bodies of two Indonesians and a Myanmar national have been found so far, while the fate of the rest looks increasingly bleak.
It is learnt that a team from the Malaysian Special Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), have been deployed to Penang to assist the in the search.
It is understood heavy equipments will be brought along for the search mission.
Menawhile, the developer of the project expressed deep regrets over the incident, in a press statement earlier.
They said the incident is believed to have happened when workers were working on the soil nailing process, to enhance the stability of the temporary slope facilitating the construction.
"The sudden incident was really unexpected," the statement read.
They added assistance will be provided to the family, while expressing condolences to the victims who have died.