KUALA LUMPUR: Hindsight, as they say, is 20/20.
In the aftermath of the Taman Bukit Permai 2 landslide, residents now remember seeing what may have been warning signs in the days and weeks leading up to the deadly incident, perhaps even the day before.
Several residents of the Ampang neighbourhood say they had seen trees in different stages of being uprooted and debris from little bits of loose soil coming down the slope.
The day before the landslide that claimed four lives, wounded another person and destroyed or damaged many homes, a boulder had come tumbling down the slope, ending up at the very foot of the hill.
Resident M.S. Chong, 58, said a neighbour, who had seen a fallen tree on the slope in December had lodged a complaint with the local council.
A few people from the local council had come to check on the complaint the same week, he said, but he did not know what happened after that as he did not receive any updates.
Yet despite all these occurrences, Chong said most of the residents gave little serious thought to whether there was any danger.
"I thought nothing of it because the slope appeared solid even after all these years," said Chong.
His house, he said, was located at the opposite end of Jalan Teratai 1/2J, so he was not sure if there had been any soil movement.
Recalling the landslide, he said he heard a loud rumbling sound followed by the warning siren.
"I went outside to see where the sound was coming from and that's when I saw the soil moving. I also saw my neighbours running away," he said.
Meanwhile, Ampang Jaya Municipal Council in a statement today denied allegations that they had failed to act on an earlier complaint about the slope.
"No complaints were made about the slope. The only complaint we received by one of the Bukit Permai 2 residents was about a drainage problem," it said, adding that drain remedial works were estimated to cost RM1 million.
Yesterday the Selangor government had said it had identified more than 150 high-risk slopes with the possibility of landslide in Ampang, Gombak and Hulu Langat.
However, Bukit Permai was not on the list.
State Infrastructure and Agriculture Committee chairman Izham Hashim had said following the Bukit Permai landslide, they had asked the Public Works Department and the Department of Minerals and Geosciences to carry out extensive monitoring to prevent future disasters.
He had said although the continuous rain could have contributed to the landslide, the effects of such a disaster could have been minimised with the advent of current technology.
He also ruled out a rockfall incident near the Intan flats, nearby on March 9 which was not related to Thursday's incident.
At the landslide site, workers were seen putting canvas sheets over the affected area.
As of 4pm today, soil and debris clearing work had yet to be completed.
The roads leading to Bukit Permai have been cordoned off for the public, with residents are only allowed 150m from the site.