KUALA LUMPUR: Project developers must be transparent in the submission of development plans to the local authorities to ensure minimal risk to the environment.

Selangor and Federal Territories Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG) director Tuan Rusli Tuan Mohamed said this was because developers would be held responsible for any hazards before, during and after the development,

This includes issues within their development boundary, such as slope maintenance and water drainage.

Government agencies and local authorities are only the regulators, he added.

"The developers must provide the geological information of the development area as JMG only has large-scale geological information and not local details.

"We provide comments based on the information from the developer and compare it to existing information.

"We give technical comments on the possible cause of any geological hazards to ensure that when development starts, it would be more sustainable with minimal risk to the environment," he said, adding that the developer would also need to provide the mitigation plan.

He said if the development was on a sensitive area with Class 2 and Class 3 terrain, then the department would refer it to the Environmentally Sensitive Areas Development Committee, to whom the developer would have to explain the plan in more detail.

"We would question them, one by one, on their mitigation plans to minimise the impact on the environment.

"The developers would be responsible for their designs. They would need to submit their drawing to the local council when they are finished with their projects.

"If they don't follow the designs as proposed to the local council, then action can be taken against them."

Tuan Rusli said after the One Stop Centre (OSC) was formed in 2009 allowing local authorities to work hand-in-hand with relevant technical authorities to review project proposals, development has been safer and more sustainable.

The current policies and requirements are stringent and robust to ensure safe development even on hilly areas, he stressed.

"We cannot stop development as we need to move forward as a nation.

"If land owners want to develop their land and it is aligned with the national physical plan, state structural plan and local plan, our role as regulators is to ensure that they meet all the safety and technical requirements," he added.

Earlier today, the New Straits Times reported on a proposed 37-storey high-rise hilltop apartment project in Taman Kelab Ukay, Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang, which has left residents feeling uneasy, fearing potential disasters in the landslide-prone area.

The residents, who are already spooked by the 2020 landslide in Jalan Taman Kelab Ukay 4 and the deadly 2008 landslide in Taman Bukit Mewah, both located about 1km away - fear the removal of trees and other greenery could put houses downhill at risk of soil erosion, especially during the rainy season.

The developer, however, said that it had gone through the necessary process to receive approval from local authorities.

https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2023/08/948350/tighter-control-project-developers