KUALA LUMPUR: The government will spend RM70 million to repair and reinforce the collapsed slope in Bukit Antarabangsa. 

Works Minister Datuk Seri Mohd Zin Mohamed said the allocation was approved by the cabinet yesterday and remedial work was expected to start as early as next week, pending the appointment of contractors.

Zin said repair work would initially focus on dangerous sections near Taman Bukit Mewah, Taman Bukit Jaya and Jalan Wangsa 9 where 44 houses are still deemed hazardous for habitation.

"Our target is to do the repairs within six months so that all the residents can move back to their homes," he said when announcing the findings of an in-depth study into the Dec 6, 2008 landslide by the Public Works Department's Slope Engineering Division and other government departments.

Zin said the rest of the 212 houseowners who were issued evacuation notices on Dec 19 could now return to their homes.

He noted, however, that it would take about two years before repair and reinforcement work, especially at ground zero, could be fully completed.

Among the repair and reinforcement work expected to be carried out include hand-dug caissons, soil nailing, micropiling, tie back and horizontal drainage.

Zin said the objective of the remedial work was to stabilise the area to ensure the safety of residents and also to allow owners of the 14 houses destroyed to rebuild their homes.

He said based on aerial photographs of the area, taken from 1968 up till the day of the landslide that killed five people, the tragedy was due to human error. 

"The slope is not a natural slope, so obviously it was not a natural failure. This was a man-made slope created at about the time Taman Bukit Mewah was developed between 1975 and 1985."

Zin said his ministry was still identifying those responsible for slope maintenance in Bukit Antarabangsa, after which they would claim for full reimbursement.

He said the responsibility generally lies with the developer or landowner, the local authority and the state government.

"My ministry will ascertain who is responsible, including the landowner and submitting person who carried out projects that had contributed to the landslide, and claim for all remedial and reinforcement work expenses."