Commission of Inquiry to probe Tanjung Bungah landslide tragedy

GEORGE TOWN: The state-level Commission of Inquiry into the lethal landslide which buried alive 11 construction workers including a Malaysian site supervisor will convene its first public hearings from Jan 24 until 30 at the City Hall area in Esplanade.
In a statement, the commission confirmed that the Yang di-Pertua Negri Tun Abdul Rahman Abbas has approved and issued an order for the formation of the commission to investigate into the failure of temporary structures at the work site in Tanjung Bungah which resulted in a landslide.
The commission's secretary Datuk Ng Wee Kok said the commission was set up under the Commission of Enquiry Act 1950 and its commissioners are chairman Datuk Yeo Yang Poh, a former Bar Council president, engineering specialist Datuk Dr.Gue See Sew and academic Prof Dr.Ramli Nazir.
The commission will conduct its hearings in public beginning Jan 24 to Jan 30.
Subsequent dates of sitting will be determined by the commission from time to time while the public is invited to observe the proceedings.
Ng said any person who has any useful information on the alleged mishap, can contact the commission conducting officer at 04-2618 030 during office hours.
The incident at the construction site at Tanjung Bungah sparked a debate between the state and opposition over the cause of the tragedy with some quarters blaming it on worksite negligence, while others had accused the state of environmental degradation, which had led to the landslide.
Penang had since formed the commission to probe the incident, while at the federal level, the Department of Occupational Safety and Health was also conducting an investigation.