Sinkhole Tragedy Report To Reach Cabinet By Year-end - FT Minister

KUALA LUMPUR, July 3 (Bernama) -- The full report on the sinkhole tragedy at Jalan Masjid India in August last year is expected to be presented to the Cabinet by the end of this year, at the latest.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) Datuk Seri Dr Zaliha Mustafa said she had only recently received the detailed findings and the ministry is currently reviewing the contents before tabling it to the Cabinet.

“I’ve just received the full report, and my team is now studying various aspects of the incident, particularly the cause of the sinkhole. Once the review is complete, I will present it to the Cabinet, probably before the end of the year,” she told reporters after officiating the Mata Hati Wilayah programme here today.

The tragedy involved a woman identified as Vijayaletchumy, a tourist from India, who fell into an eight-metre-deep sinkhole while walking with her family in the Jalan Masjid India area on Aug 23 en route to a nearby temple.

Despite a multi-agency search and rescue operation being launched immediately after the incident, the victim was never found.

In a separate development, Dr Zaliha dismissed calls from certain quarters to delay the implementation of the Kota MADANI project, asserting that the development is a necessity, particularly for addressing housing shortages among civil servants.

“There are around 17,000 civil servants still waiting for government quarters. The Kota MADANI project will provide around 10,000 units, which will go a long way in easing this housing issue.

“We know that 60 per cent of Putrajaya’s residents are government employees. So it is crucial that we ensure their comfort. I do not agree with any suggestion to delay the project,” she said.

The RM4 billion Kota MADANI project will be developed by Putrajaya Holdings Sdn Bhd (PjH) under a public-private partnership model based on Build, Lease, Maintain and Transfer (BLMT), which does not require initial government funding. 

Kota MADANI is set to comprise high-density residential units, designed to accommodate over 30,000 residents, along with vertical schools and a wide range of public facilities.

-- BERNAMA