MALAYSIA’S NATIONAL SLOPE MASTER PLAN

Methodology of the Study

The project to develop an effective NSMP was a colossal endeavour, not least because no one had done it to the scale that the terms of reference specified. Hong Kong has been successful in reducing landslide risks by initially focusing on major actions that can drastically reduce landslide risks. Malaysia did not pursue the path that Hong Kong and other countries took, but drew from their experiences and charted its own course. One of the first steps that formed part of the requirement in the study was to carry out exhaustive literature reviews of efforts that have been carried out by other countries to reduce landslide risk. Apart from Hong Kong, USA andAustralia, practices from other countries such as Sri Lanka and Korea were also scrutinized (Slope Engineering Branch 2009). The idea was to see whether any of the activities can be adopted and adapted tofit Malaysian needs.

The NSMP study was officially launched in March 2006, although the groundwork had started more than a year earlier. The study was completed in December 2008 with a total estimated cost of approximately USD1.9 million. A consortium of consultants was appointed to

carry out the study. The NSMP Terms of Reference was partly based on USGS Circular 1244 (Spiker&Gori2003) and works by Committee on the Review of the National Landslide Hazards Mitigation Strategy Board of the United States National Research Council (2004).In USGS Circular 1244 there are 9 components that form the mainstay of the NSMP study; the component Policy and Institutional Frameworkwas added in the NSMP study.

Three experts on slope engineering were appointed to be advisors to the project. They were Norbert R. Morgenstern, Emeritus Professor at University of Alberta, Canada; David N. Petley, Professor at the University of Durham, UK and HarisAbas, Ex-deputy Director General of PWD, Malaysia. A technical committee that comprises relevant agencies, NGOs and toll expressway concessionaires was set up to provide direction and input for relevancy purposes and review the progress periodically. Several discussion sessions were held with the advisors and technical committee at several stages during the study period and even before the advisors were officially appointed. These included presentations by the consultants on the work progress as well as the contents of the components were discussed for their comments and queries from the technical committee.

The NSMP is a comprehensive strategic and implementation plan that cover areas as diverse as institutional framework, hazard mapping, monitoring systems, information technology, loss assessment, training, public awareness, loss reduction measures, emergency preparedness, and research & development. Replete with strategic directions, action plans and key performance indicator measures, the NSMP helps planners set priorities on what needs to be done to stem the increasing tide of landslides.

To come up with such a comprehensive plan pertaining to slopes was extremely difficult and complex due to the challenges of multi-faceted issues that can only

be resolved by discussion and working together with other agencies. One of the major principles of the study was to identify weaknesses in the system and try to make improvements to these weak links. Another matter of importance was to identify the roles and responsibilities of various parties involved. Finally,

5. Review of existing local conditions and practices overseas enabled the incorporating of best

6. Presentation of proposed national plan to stakeholders and practices and the state-of-the-artinto

obtaining their feedback

local solutions.

7. Preparation of inception, conceptual, interim and final reports and obtaining comments

Questionnaires were sent to relevant

8. Refinement and submission of reports

federal, state and local stakeholders to examine responsibilities, capabilities

The flowchart of the process in the study is presented in Figure 2. and systems that they possessed in matters pertaining to slopes. Laws and regulations relating to slopes were also examined, and any deficiencies

Start

Mobilization

and overlaps between various parties involved in the implementation of

Progress

slope policies were identified. From Reports these

Desk Study

questionnaires,

capacity,

resources, weaknesses and strengths

pertaining to slope policies were

review

identified and later used to improve on Conceptual

existing situations. For instance, at the

Road Show &

time of the NSMP study, the Malaysian

Meteorology Department of Malaysia Interim

from Advisors

(MMD) were extensively using rain gauges to measure rainfall intensity,

Technical

Reports

Technical Visit

Committee

Meetings

Doppler radar were available, but the

Draft Final

numbers are limited and the range did

Report

Study of

not cover the whole of Malaysia. Since

Respective

then MMD has upgraded all their radars

Components

Technical

to Doppler radars that can provide

Notes

coverage throughout Malaysia.

Refinement

Approved

They are currently working on calibrating the Doppler radars.

Based on the premises mentioned End above, the methodology employed is

Final Report

as follows:

1. Identification and compilation of Figure 2 : Flowchart of the process in the study reference materials.

2. Listing down of relevant agencies and organisations and preparation

Perceptions and status on slope issues before the study

of questionnaires

3. Discussions with government Usually when a major landslide occurs, the public would blame the agencies at all levels and other

Government. Questions that they normally raise are: Why didn’t the related organisations

government ensure that the slope is safe? Why did they allow the land

4. Literature reviews and technical to be developed when they knew the location was not safe or suitable? visits locally and overseas

Why are actions not taken against errant developers? Why didn’t the government maintain the slope? These and many more similar questions reflected the perception that the government is responsible for all aspects of landslide and slope management. During the NSMP study it was found that most agencies believed that landslide management was confined to only providing relief to victims, aiding recovery following an event, and rebuilding damage infrastructure, when in fact slope management entails a pre-, during and post- landslide timeline continuum.

The PWD defines major landslide as having any of these criteria:

1. Landslide that adversely affect the local or national economy and cause death and substantial destruction to property

2. The road has to be closed for more than 24 hours

3. No alternative land route is available to bypass the landslide area

4. Alternative land route is available but is more than an hour away by motorised vehicle

5. Causes road surface damage, rendering it impassable by traffic for more than 24 hours.

This definition help in deciding the course of action to take in the event the disaster occurred.

Other findings made by the NSMP team during the course of the study constitute a long list of needs and deficiencies. For example, until the NSMP study there was not a single all-encompassing study made to come up with a comprehensive approach to address and handle landslides.

Some of the slope works done are badly designed, improperly supervised and defectively constructed.

Research and development work on scientific knowledge of slopes were being carried out by local universities, consultants, and Government agencies. However, there was a pressing need for co- ordination and collaboration among agencies and relevant stakeholders to avoid duplication of roles and responsibilities with limited resources.

Institutions endowed with landslide management sometimes experienced overlapping of activities, tasks and guidelines.

There was low appreciation of the economic value and cost-efficiencies in risk reduction compared to replacing lost assets, and persistent difficulty in demonstrating the cost-efficiencies in saving lives and public property before disasters occur.

There was little reference on early warning systems to landslide risk reduction in the national development plans. Even though there are some early warning systems (EW) and real-time monitoring systems (RTMS) in Malaysia, their application remained limited and their success questionable.

The existing loss reduction measures for landslides were mostly done on an ad-hoc basis and lacked systematic planning.

Construction practices in PWD elsewhere in Malaysia before 1990s was by prescriptive method, for example cut slopes it is 45 o ( 1 vertical to 1 horizontal) and for fill embankments 34 o or less (1 vertical to 1.5 horizontal) much like Hong Kong before 1977 (Wong & Ho 2006). The history of this practice can be traced back to England and France from 1850 to 1950 for slopes along railroads and canal embankments (Rogers 1992). This practice was brought over into this country by the British during the colonial period and has been the

de facto method until recently. Although many slopes designed prescriptively, especially those constructed in granitic formation are still standing,many of the slopes designed in weathered rocks do not consider geology during site investigation especially in schist which is known for experiencing problems in Malaysia. End-tipping practice is also common especially for housing development.

Slopes were also designed without any limits to the height. The design of slopes also neglected to cater for ease of maintenance e.g. cascade drains were constructed without railings or dedicated stairs for maintenance purposes.

Maintenance of existing slopes is almost always neglected for public and most private slopes, except for expressway concessionaires or highland resort owners that maintain the slopes under their jurisdiction in order to safeguard their commercial interests.

Slopes that were inadequately designed and improperly constructed (including end-tipped slopes) had yet to

be identified and strengthened. Losses due to landslides in Malaysia are frequent, but

were not consistently compiled and properly tracked. Data on losses is crucial to help the Government identify trends and track progress in reducing losses.

Public awareness and education on slope safety was carried out on ad-hoc basis and not continuous.The public is generally aware of the danger of landslides, but were not aware of the signs of landslides, their role in mitigation and early warning. There are no acts that deal specifically with slopes. There were no agencies that dealt and coordinated on slope matters. Landslide data was scattered and not systematically compiled.

Hazard and risk maps are generally not available in critical highly populated places. However, PWD had produced several hazard and risk maps along highways that traverse through rugged terrain.

Landslide records are only based on various media sources obtained between 1973 and 2004. The landslide events within this period were not recorded in detail.

There were no specific legislation to handle landslide disasters, and landslides were handled within the general current legislation that is designed to cope with disasters in general. As described above, there were many weaknesses in the system for which many improvements could be made.

Problems encountered during the study

Many problems were faced by the NSMP study team during the study. Some of the problems were internally generated; others were caused by external factors that were more difficult to resolve (Abdullah & Mohamad 2008a). An example of internal problems faced by the team was ensuring that overlapping of the issueswas kept to a minimum. Integration meetings were regularly carried out between various teams working on different components so that the NSMP would be more consistent.

It was expected that all the plans presented would not be implemented at the same time due to limited

resources. Therefore, one of the key issues of the plan was prioritisation of the implementation of the NSMP in terms of the short-, medium- and long-term goals. The short term goals were to ensure that the impact of the plan not only would address the urgent problems faced by the nation presently, but also to ensure maximum impact was felt once the plan was implemented. Prioritisation would in essence consider the essential, important and desirable aspects of the overall implementation plan which would then be linked up with other phases of the NSMP. One of the priority plans proposed by the committee was to produce hazard and risk maps for the local authorities to use for preventive maintenance and monitoring. This has borne fruit in one locality where actions and monitoring were carried out at these high-risk areas.

Other problem faced by the study teams is acquiringenough reliable data to formulate plans to address some of the problems faced by the country on the matters pertaining to slopes. Some of the available data are inadequate others were scattered in various departments or with private consultants and highway concessionaires. An example of the problem faced pertained to loss assessment, whereby a general idea of the money spent on repairs and direct damages to properties was difficult to assess due to data that were available but improperly archived and again scatteredthroughout various agencies and companies. Moreover, the highway concessionaires were reluctant to share their repair and maintenance costsbecause they are part of their trade secrets. In other cases the information was withheld because they are due to pending litigation that clients were unwilling to divulge.

On the cost of maintenance of slopes, usually the total cost is combined with that for other maintenance works such as road works, drainage works, and structural works. Separating the maintenance cost into various elements would be time consuming and require input from people who have intimate knowledge on the works done.

Questionnaires were sent to relevant federal agencies and all state and local governments. For the questionnaires that were sent to federal agencies, 58% of the reply was received and more than 25% from the state and localgovernments. The lack of interest Questionnaires were sent to relevant federal agencies and all state and local governments. For the questionnaires that were sent to federal agencies, 58% of the reply was received and more than 25% from the state and localgovernments. The lack of interest

6. Develop programmes for guidelines, training,

well with the aspirations of the NSMP whereby active and education for engineers, scientists and participation from the state and local governments was

decision-makers.

essential for the success of NSMP implementation since

7. Develop awareness programmes of landslide

only they havejurisdiction over land development and hazard to general public, developers, engineers, control in their states or districts.

scientist, decision makers, etc.

8. Develop a plan for appropriate mitigation

There were many cases where the answers obtained

measures.

were inadequate and further enquiries had to be made

9. Improve the nation’s ability to respond and

with the relevant parties to obtain cleareranswers. recover from landslide disaster. When questionnaires were not answered by the

10. Develop a predictive understanding of

relevant parties, the study teams had to contact the landslide processes, thresholds and triggering parties directly or at other times conductworkshops

mechanisms.

with the parties concerned at the state level and the local council level.

Many of these objectives were taken from USGS Circular 1244.The objectives provided a very comprehensive

A key challenge faced by the study team wastrying to coverage of the matters pertaining to slope gauge whether the progress made in coming up with

management and planning. Out of these objectives, the plan was headed in the right direction and could be

10 components under the following headings were successfully implemented. Essential factors for success

derived:

identified in the NSMP study were as follows:

i. Policies and institutional framework

1. Support and cooperation from and between

ii. Hazard mapping and assessments all levels of government

iii. Early warning and real-time monitoring system

2. Cooperation between the relevant agencies

iv. Loss assessment

3. Responsive public v. Information collection, interpretation, dissemination

4. Well-prepared and responsive government

and archiving

agencies to respond to public inquiries and

vi. Training

reports vii. Public awareness and education viii. Loss reduction measures

Components and objectives of the National Slope

ix. Emergency preparedness, response and

Master Plan

recovery x. Research and development.

The NSMP consists of 10 main objectives which were translated into 10 components of the study. The

Output of the National Slope Master Plan study

objectives of the NSMP are as follows: The results of the NSMP study are divided into

1. Develop an effective policy and institutional

sixsections with the following titles: framework to minimise risk from landslides on

1. Identification of the current situations slopes nationwide.

MALAYSIA’S NATIONAL SLOPE MASTER PLAN