Photo via The Edge Markets
In December 1993, the Highland Towers collapse, which killed 48 people, was one tragedy that brought Malaysians together, with many generously donating blood, food, and offering shelter, manpower or even their homes, as authorities rushed to help the landslide victims and rescuers.
Yesterday (December 10th), the Housing and Local Government Ministry (KPKT) announced plans to build a memorial for those who died in the incident.
Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the memorial would be built together with a park and walking track.
“When I say park (as reported previously), people might have gotten the wrong idea that it will become an open area with facilities such as playgrounds. (Actually) it is not a recreational park, instead what we want to develop is a memorial surrounded by a small park and walking track,” she told Bernama.
Talks to get the project underway are still ongoing, with the Ministry hoping for an RM8.9 million-allocation for land acquisition from the Selangor government, which is expected to be completed at the end of this year.
It’s also understood that the Ministry has already gotten former residents’ consent, with demolition and cleaning works set to begin once the allocation is approved by the Finance Ministry.
“We have met the owners to inform them about the land acquisition… the ownership (for the property) is by strata,” she said.
If you’re unfamiliar with the Highland Towers incident, check out our video on what happened that tragic day…
Zuraida previously said that the Highland Towers would be demolished by June 2019, at the latest, but it was delayed due to problems tracking down the building owner and the land acquisition process.
by Kyle Roshen Jacob
