WHY did the Selangor government decide at the  11th hour yesterday not to release the much awaited Bukit Antarabangsa landslide report?

The effort by the State government to declassify the report last week has ended in vain, and it looks like the report will not be made public any time soon, for a Selangor government source disclosed the State could  have been “ill advised”on its move.

The declassification of the report by the State last week gave hope to residents that they would finally know what caused the landslide and enable them to get more information on the safety of the area and its surroundings.

While members of the media were provided with a four page summary on what  caused the Dec 6, 2008, landslide, the State government’s U-turn to not release the report will leave many  residents, who had been
eagerly awaiting its release for almost a year, very disappointed.

But why the U-turn after “declassifying” the report?  While the Selangor government announced last week it had declassified the report under Section 2C of the Official Secrets Act, its decision not to release it yesterday
has drawn speculation the State does not have the authority to declassify the report in the first place.

It is also believed that the State was forced to bow to pressure from certain quarters. Menteri Besar Tan Sri
Abdul Khalid Ibrahim when declassifying the report last week said he was using his powers under Section 2C  of the Official Secrets Act to do so.

While State authorities claimed their lawyers said it was okay for the menteri besar to declassify the report,
sources within the State government have admitted the possibility that they may have been “ill-advised”. In a statement yesterday, Khalid said following the State government’s announcement last week on the declassification that the report would be made public, the Federal government challenged the decision and cautioned the State not to declassify the document.

“The State has written to the Works Ministry to inform it of the decision and requested the ministry to do
the same in the name of public interest,” Khalid said.

“However, the ministry claimed it had no jurisdiction to decide on the matter as the classification was done by the Cabinet minister. Therefore the State has no choice but to withhold its decision to make the report public,”
Khalid added.

When announcing the declassification, Khalid said copies of the report would be made available to the public and he instructed the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council to make copies for sale to the public, from yesterday.
But members of the public who went to the council (see accompanying story)  were informed by council  officers that they had yet to receive a letter “in black and white” from the authorities to do so.

Malay Mail learnt that the letter from the State government to the Works Ministry was sent the same day (last Wednesday), but a reply signed by its directorgeneral  was only sent to the State government yesterday
evening.

A spokesman for the Public Works Department told Malay Mail that PWD had no power to declassify any
report.

“We are sending the State government a letter stating this by today,” he said.  Khalid in his statement called on the Federal government to allow the report to be released as its contents were crucial to public discourse  on slope development in Bukit Antarabangsa and other parts of Selangor.

“Having been privy to the report, the State believes it will not prejudice national interests and security. In fact,
public interest and security will benefit from the revelation   of the report,” Khalid said.

Last night, Malay Mail learnt that the State government is to send a letter on this matter to the Cabinet today.

Among other issues, the letter will urge the Cabinet make the report public. A State government spokesman said Selangor did not bow to pressure when it decided not to release the report, as it was “not released due to certain legal matters”.

He declined to elaborate. The spokesman also said what was important was the State government had taken steps to make it public and the ball was now in the Federal government’s court.

“The State government put public interest before it to enable the people to get an insight into the landslide
tragedy, but it will be a bigger tragedy if the Federal government does not act in the interest of the public,” he added.

Residents put in the dark

 

THE decision by the Selangor government not to make public the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide report leaves residents in the dark, with no answers nor solutions to their queries. Taman Bukit Mewah residents representative and Bukit Antarabangsa

 

Action Commitee chairman Datuk N. Muniandy, who went to the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council yesterday morning to get a copy of the report, said they did not know what to do next.

“The news from the Menteri Besar that we would be able to get the report was very positive and we were
looking forward to receiving it,” he said.

“But now, we don’t have any information as the report is not our hands,” Muniandy added. He plans to meet with council president Datuk Muhammad Yacob today to get some feedback and if that does not yield any result, the residents would press to meet the Menteri Besar.

Another resident, Lok Hui Yen, a member of the Bukit Antarabangsa Action Committee, said she was told by council staff yesterday that the report could not be made  public as the council had yet to obtain approval in
“black and white” from the authorities.

“This is definitely very disappointing. First, we have someone saying we can get the report. Then we are told it cannot be done... this is a reflection of our system of administration,” Lok said.

“It is very confusing when MPAJ says it needs approval to release the report, while the State government said we can obtain the report from the council today,” she said.

Lok added that residents already knew over the weekend that they would not get a copy of the report as they had liased with a council employee who told them so.

Council staff Malay Mail spoke to gave the same reasons — they had yet to receive the green light from the authorities.

They said while they awaited approval from the Works Ministry or the Public Works Department, those who wanted copies of the report could fill up a form with their personal details, contact numbers and a photocopy of their IC and the council would get in touch with them when the report was made public.

Malay Mail was told a copy would cost RM80.

Report also reveals hazardous zones

 

THE Malay Mail broke the story on Nov 17 that the Selangor government  was working towards declassifying
confidential reports on ths state of hillslopes in Bukit Antarabangsa and the surrounding areas.

 

In our report, we highlighted that the State government had received a  copy of the report from the Ampang
Jaya Municipal Council and planned to make it public on grounds of public  interest.

The report, among others, contains reasons for the Dec 6, 2008, landslide in Taman Bukit Mewah that resulted
in the death of five residents, and details of a hazard mapping report  that would show possible landslide
areas.

The report was declassified the very next day by Menteri Besar Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim. Khalid’s act to declassify the report was questioned by Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Liew Vui Keong. Liew said the report was prepared by the Public Works Department (PWD) and “only the person who classifies the document can declassify it later”.

Liew also said Khalid may have breached provisions under the Official Secrets Act by doing so, since the
consent of the minister must be obtained before the report could be declassified.

Lawyer Derek Fernandez said Khalid had acted within his powers,  and that Liew’s interpretation of the
Secrets Act was “not wrong, but might have been confused with the application to the provision where consent of the minister is needed”.

Malay Mail also reported last Friday that residents were considering  suing MPAJ for negligence for the Dec
6 tragic landslide if the council did not compensate them.