Wasted years, wasted lives

If only we had done what Hong Kong did and started a war on landslides right after the Highland Towers collapse.

MY back neighbours house sits on land higher than mine. We share a retaining wall that is about three metres high on my side.

Both my neighbour and I dont pay much attention to our wall. Weve lived with that wall for eight years now and so far so good. There are no signs of cracks or earth movement.

I think I am safe from falling walls and landslips because I live in an old neighbourhood located on generally flat terrain and theres no high-rise development on slopes overlooking my garden patch.

Not being on hilly terrain was one of my prerequisites when I was house hunting more than a decade ago.

Houses perched on the side of a hill may offer a great view and bragging rights but to me, that cant compare to a sense of safety one gets from being on flat ground.

My reasoning is simple: I did not trust the way hill slope development was managed then and I still dont.

Twenty years after the Highland Towers disaster on Dec 11, 1993, our hill slope management is still sloppy, as evident from our stories to mark the anniversary.

We interviewed many experts. One, in answer to a question, How far have we come in improving our system as well as our attitude towards the development and maintenance of slopes since this tragedy? said: Since 2010 the authorities have done quite well by coming up with guidelines to manage new hillside development although there is still room for improvement.

However, there is very little done for older slopes.

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Wasted years, wasted lives