THE Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) report for the proposed Pan Island Link 1 (PIL1) which was submitted to the Department of Environment (DoE) for approval, contained only preliminary design drawings.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow said that following the approval from DoE, a detailed design will be worked out to obtain approvals from the relevant authorities.
“As committed by the state, notwithstanding the approval obtained from DoE with 56 conditions, the detailed design will go through several approval processes including that of the Public Works Department (JKR), before the design is adopted for execution,” Chow told a press conference at his office in Komtar today.
He was responding to a query raised by heritage activist Khoo Salma Nasution in a news report.
Khoo Salma had questioned whether parts of the PIL1 highway might be in violation of the JKR guidelines for slope design.
She had said the JKR design rules mentioned that the design for cut slopes should not exceed six berms.
She claimed that the PIL1 EIA report showed many instances (of up to 29 berms) where the guidelines were allegedly violated.
Chow thanked Khoo Salma for raising the matter.
“We would like to thank her for raising the issue, which is valid, because it is contained in the report.
“Engineering wise, it is near impossible to create a 29-berm slope. We must admit that it was an oversight from the submitting person.
“We would like to clarify that the submission for the DoE approval contained only preliminary design drawings, typically software-generated, and the JKR guideline is a guide providing the base outline for the same,” Chow said.
He assured that issues such as this would be addressed and dealt with at the detailed design stage.
“The JKR guidelines will definitely be complied with during the (detailed) design stage,” he said.
Story by Christopher Tan
Pix by Alissala Thian
Video by Darwina Mohd Daud