AMPANG: The Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) has rejected claims that its inaction led to Saturday's landslide which saw seven households forced to vacate their homes.
MPAJ president Datuk Abd Hamid Hussain said it was unfair for certain quarters to blame the council over the incident.
He was responding to criticism by Taman Bukit Mulia residents, whose homes were located at the foot of the hill where the landslide took place.
With regard to complaints received on fallen trees on a plot of land in the area, he said the particular plot of land behind Jalan Kelab Ukay 4 was privately-owned.
He said the council had on several occasions attempted to locate its owner but has been unsuccessful so far.
He said the trees growing on the plot of land were therefore not the council's responsibility.
"However, whenever we receive complaints from Taman Bukit Mulia residents, our officers would still lend a hand to clear them," he said.
"Trimming the trees on the land is the owner's responsibility. But even so, we will help however we can," he said.
He stressed that the safety of the residents remains MPAJ's priority.
"That is why MPAJ has taken it upon ourselves to carry out the remedial works," he said.
He said as part of its immediate measures previously, the authorities fixed a tarpaulin cover on a monsoon drain with reported damages pending a procurement exercise to get it fixed.
On the landslide itself, decision would be made on the best option to conduct the remedial works based on the contractors' assessment, without affecting residents living around the plot of land.
"We understand their concerns as their houses are located at the foot of the affected slope. We will wait for the report from the experts," he said.
Meanwhile, responding to claims from Taman Bukit Mulia residents that nothing was done to rectify the problems which arose from a landslide in the area last November, Abd Hamid said the remedial works were supposed to begin in March.
However, they had to be postponed due to the Movement Control Order (MCO).
Abd Hamid said MPAJ had submitted its tender and proposal to the state government for repair works to commence, but they only received the nod sometime in early March.
The council, he said, received hundreds of complaints daily but were unable to resolve each and every one swiftly.
"We normally prioritise according to the availability of funds and level of emergency and urgency. But in this case, its unfortunate that it had to happen during the MCO, otherwise work would have already been in progress," he said.