Building Act to be amended to allow slope monitoring, landslide prevention actions

PETALING JAYA (Sept 6): Putrajaya will table an amendment to the Street Building Drainage Act 1974 which will allow local governments to carry out safety inspections on slopes within their jurisdiction, including those on private properties, said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

In a Malaysiakini report, she said buildings on slopes will be monitored and preventive steps will be taken to avoid tragic situations in the event of a landslide.

This includes evacuating building occupants if inspections find the premises to be dangerous.

Moreover, developers will have to follow a certain standard when building on slopes, she added.

Local governments will also have the authority to reject applications for developments near hill slopes that are considered unsafe.The government is targeting to pass the amendment this October and start enforcing it next year, she was quoted as saying by Bernama.

Wan Azizah revealed that the Barisan Nasional government had begun to amend the Act in 2011 but it was delayed as the Attorney-General's Chambers and the Housing and Local Government Ministry was refining the amendment.