Ever since trees on frosted slopes were bulldozed from the end of March, residents of the condominium and the surrounding link houses have been anxious. And has the clearing crept higher up the hills, the residents became more nervous.

"A heavy downpour may just trigger a landslide, and there is nothing to protect the buildings from the torrant of mud," says apartment owner Michael Chow.

"This area is very wet, with a lot of runoffs coming down the hills. Each time it rains, the stream outside Villaria will roar with water. Now that hills have been cleared of trees, where is all the water going to go?"

These fears are not unfounded. After all, Taman Bukit Mulia is one of the many residential enclaves within Bukit Antarabangsa, in area notorious for unstable slopes and landslides because of the fragile geological makeup.

And yet, a huge tract of fragile hilly land is now being carved up. A signboard at the site have only the barest information. It states that the tree-phased 30.4ha project is owned by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council but developed by Triumph City Development.

Phase I will have 660 units of low-cost flats for evicted squatters in the municipality to be housed in two blocks, 17 and 18-storey high respectively.

An official from Triumph City Development reveals that Phase I, which over 11.3ha, will also include three blocks of medium-cost apartments. He says the next two phases are still under planning but way feature higher-end apartments and semi-detached houses.

Taman Bukit Mulia dwellers questioned why the development is going on when the state government had stated that it would not allow development on highlands, particularly in landslide-prone areas such as Bukit Antarabangsa. This quiet residential area in Hulu Klang is just next to the Highland Towers and Taman Hillview where a landslide flattened the bungalow of former Armed Forces chief Jen Tan Sri Ismail Omar last Nov 20, killing eight.

They are also incensed that they were not told about the project although they would bear the brunt of any impact. Neither were their views sought. They learnt about the project only when the clearing became visible in early April.

Several residents say their complaints about the hill-cutting lodged with the Ampang Jaya Council drew the same response "We're still investigating" when, in reality, the project belongs to the local authority.

Taking action

Last week, irate Taman Bukit Mulia residents formed a group and submitted a letter of protest to the council. There are seeking a meeting with council officials, and have asked for earthworks to be stopped until their concerns are addressed.

They also sought clarification on whether an Environmental Impact Assessment has been done and if any precautions have been taken by the developer to prevent any landslips or mudflows.

"Our main concern is safety," says Villaria resident Mohd Nordin Abbas.

"Anything can happen as the hills are above us. We're the receiving and if water flows down.

"They must tell us what measures will be taken to ensure safety. Will they build retaining walls? What sort of drainage system will be installed? Now, we're the dark and we don't feel safe."

The residents argued that the project did not adhere to proper procedures. For instance, no "objection" notice were put up although this was required for development projects.

Trees, carelessly pushed down slopes, have damaged the Villaria perimeter fence, creating a security problems. The land clearing has also damaged concrete drainage channels built on slopes surrounding the apartment.

A drainage channel along the perimeter of the apartment was also broken to receive discharges from a slit pond. Eroded earth has stained the stream red.

As this stream feeds Sungai Klang, the state's major artery will be silted up too, if no precaution is taken.

Safety is just one of the resident's many concerns. They are also upset over the forest destruction.
"The sight of bulldozers inching up the hill slopes saddens me and I fell so helpless. There goes my forest view and cool mountain breeze," laments one resident.

The hill cutting revealed the sore truth to the residents who had always thought that their properties flanked the Gombak forest Reserve.

The Selangor Forestry Department, when asked to investigate the forest clearing, divulged that a portion of the reserve had been converted for development by the state government in the early 1990s.

This begs a question: don't the residents have a right to know when the surrounding forest reserve – which was what attracted them to buy property there in the first place and for which they paid a premium price-loses its protected status?

The forest there was last logged in the 1950s and had regenerated over time. Huge trees which soar to over 30m cloak the slopes but now, only their stumps are left.

Sensitive slopes

The residents expect more problems to come. The hilly terrain will have to be leveled to create enough flat land to build on. One can easily imagine the amount of earth-works needed. And the ensuing dust pollution.

"It is just no logical to have high- density projects on such hilly terrain," Chow, the Villaria resident, points out.
Residents wonder if the development had violated guidelines on hillside development set by the Cabinet Committee on Highlands. These stipulated that development on slopes with gradients of between 26 and 35 degrees (class II) requires technical assessment and EIA. Slopes with gradients over 35 degrees, which come under Class IV, must not be developed.

Chow says the project should not have started, pending the outcome of the study on safety of hill slopes from the Klang Gates to Bukit Sungai Seputeh.

Residents also questioned council president Ahmad Kabit's comment to reporters early last month that the projects did not fall under the state government's restriction on hill-slope development.

"Why should that be so?" asked Iris Teoh, who owns a link house in the area.

"Just because it is a squatter resettlement project does not follow environmental rules.

"Furthermore, only Phase I is for squatter resettlement. The future phase are normal residential development."
The new project is all the more worrying because it sits on the same mountain range as the abandoned Bukit Perdana project. In the early 1990s, a huge chunk of the Gombak Reserve was de-gazetted to make way for this exclusive bungalow lot project.

When trees were axed and the whole hill was cut up, severe erosion and landslips marred the site. The Department of Environment stopped earthworks and called for an EIA, which found the area to have high erosion risk. The project was never revived. Now, some 10 years later, another portion of the same mountain range is being developed.

An engineer with Triumph City Development says before "cut and fill" work can start in two or three week's time, it has to adhere to all procedures set by the council pertaining to silts traps and controlling water flows.

"Rest assured, the council will monitor (this). This is a government project; we are just implementing it," he said.

He denied that the project failed to adhere to restrictions on hill slopes and declined to elaborate on the project.
These assurances, however, do little to allay public fears over safety and concern over environmental destruction.

Of course, many other hills are being flattened in the Klang Valley but this one draws particular concern because Bukit Antarabangsa has suffered from landslips and fallen slopes. It has rows of dilapidated link houses and apartments, left unfinished because they were found unsafe.

For residents there, these sights are grim reminders of the erosion risks there, hence their demand that the area be left untouched and kept as natural as possible.