Hillslopes and mark of a developed nation

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2018/10/27/risky-building-on-hillslopes/

The news article claims that hillslope development causes erosion, habitat loss as well as air, water and noise pollution. It threatens wildlife, forests, water security as well as soil integrity and stability.

Does habitat loss, air, water and noise pollution on a hillslope development differ from any other greenfield development? No, not necessarily.

Does it affect soil integrity and stability? No, not if it is engineered properly and the construction is executed properly. In fact, properly engineered, it could improve the ground conditions and stability of a hillslope.

The Bukit Kukus landslide and Highland Towers collapse are regrettable tragedies. But the answer to preventing such tragedies does not lie in a blanket prohibition of hillslope development, especially by using simplistic prescriptive approaches like categorizing permission by the slope gradient as the article suggests.

There are many countries around the world that build on hillslopes, but yet these developments are safe and stable. Hong Kong is a good example.

In our opinion, what Malaysia's built environment really needs, hillslope development or otherwise, is a general uplift in knowledge (so that solutions are knowledge-based and not archaic or substandard; nor simplistic and prescriptive), work to be awarded based on merit and importance placed on safety and quality.

Diligent enforcement without corruption and with penalties enforced is crucial. And in our opinion, not just for safety but quality as well. The government needs to ensure that commercial and public developments are constructed to high quality so that we are not filling the nation up with 'large scale vandalism'.

Accomplish these and it will be a mark of a developed nation.

By Yasotha Chetty

Published on 30 Oct 2018

Pink Musings are editorials on our encounters within the Malaysian built environment and as a contribution towards upholding it.

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