> Parliament to debate landslide tragedy

A close-up of the destruction caused by the landslide at Taman Bukit Mewah on Saturday, 6 December, 2008 - Starpic.

The Dewan Rakyat has set aside one hour this afternoon to debate an opposition’s emergency motion on the Bukit Antarabangsa landslide tragedy which killed four people.

This came after House speaker Pandikar Amin Mulia, in a rare move, accepted the motion tabled by Azmin Ali (PKR-Gombak), who is also the state assemblyperson for Bukit Antarabangsa.

The one-hour debate will hear arguments from both Barisan Nasional (BN) and opposition MPs, followed by a winding-up from the relevant ministry. No voting is involved.

In tabling his motion this morning, Azmin (left) said the previous BN-led Selangor state government leaders should be held responsible for the latest tragedy and argued that Parliament is the best venue to debate the matter. 

After Saturday’s deadly landslide, finger-pointing erupted between the current Pakatan Rakyat-led state government and the former BN-led state government leaders over who should be held responsible for the latest tragedy. 

The massive landslide which occurred at 4am buried 14 bungalows in Taman Bukit Mewah and Taman Bukit Utama in Bukit Antarabangsa, near Hulu Kelang.

About 3,000 to 5,000 residents were forced to evacuate after the incident - Malaysiakini.