PM CALLS FOR CHECK ON STRUCTURES BUILT ON AGRI LAND

KUALA LUMPUR, May 24 (Bernama) -- Prime Minister Najib Razak Tuesday called for an examination of all houses and other structures erected on agricultural land to ascertain the risk they faced from landslides.

He said such structures were exposed to the risk of landslides if they were erected contrary to guidelines.

The National Land Code permitted the construction of houses on agricultural land but they must be built in accordance with the guidelines, he said after a visit to the site in Hulu Langat of a landslide which killed 16 people last Saturday.

Nine people were rescued from the rubble of the landslide which hit an orphanage, Rumah Anak-anak Yatim dan Anak-anak Hidayah Madrasah Al-Taqwa, at about 2.30pm.

Najib and his wife, Rosmah Mansor, had gone to the site soon after returning from the United States where the prime minister had made a working visit.

They were accompanied on the visit to the landslide site by Norainee Abdul Rahman, wife of the deputy prime minister, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Noh Omar and Works Minister Shaziman Mansor.