Jalan Masjid India area safe - Mayor

KUALA LUMPUR - Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) assures the entire area in Jalan Masjid India here is safe to visit and no stalls or buildings have been ordered to close operation.

Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Dr Maimunah Mohd Sharif said that currently the area that is closed with barriers only involves a path of about 200 metres from Wisma Yakin to the police hut to make way for rehabilitation and construction work at the location of the sinkhole incident.

"Throughout the incident, we did not (direct) any of the stalls to close, we only closed part of the area. People can still come and visit along the footpath.

"We have also met with the traders' association in the Jalan Masjid India area yesterday and confirmed that the surrounding area is safe, and only the area cordoned off with barriers is closed," she told Bernama after attending the opening of the Amboi festival at TRX today.

On August 23, a woman, G Vijaya Lakshmi, 48, from Kuppam, Andhra, India went missing after falling into an eight metre deep pit due to a sinkhole in Jalan Masjid India. After nine days, the search and rescue (SAR) operation was called off without any findings.

Yesterday, the Minister of Housing and Local Government (KPKT), Nga Kor Ming was reported as saying that the sinkhole incident in Jalan Masjid India was an isolated case and should not portray the country, especially Kuala Lumpur, as unsafe to live in.

Nga said building structures erected in the country are safe according to high standards and underground utility mapping according to state utility corridors is also carried out all the time in phases. - BERNAMA