Sumedang Police Spot Violations In Housing Development Related To The Cimanggung Landslide

DOCK. ANTARA / Cimanggung Landslide, Sumedang

SUMEDANG - The Head of Sumedang Police, Police Grand Commissioner Adjutant Eko Prasetyo Robbyanto, said that there was an alleged violation of housing development that caused a landslide disaster in Cimanggung District, Sumedang Regency, West Java.

"It is suspected that it does not meet administrative, technical and environmental requirements by not implementing provisions to stabilize slopes and implement an appropriate drainage system to minimize loading on slopes," said Police Grand Commissioner Adjutant Eko as quoted by Antara, Monday, January 25.

Sumedang Police is currently still conducting investigations on a number of residents, related service officials in the Sumedang Regency Government, including housing developers.

The results of the provisional analysis of the case where the incident occurred around the landslide location, he said, found several allegations of violations that caused landslides and claimed lives in Cimanggung District, Saturday, January 9.

Police Grand Commissioner Adjutant Eko revealed the alleged cause of the landslide, namely the existence of several water channels or artificial drainage that had not been walled which flowed from the SBG housing complex and Kampung Geulis Housing or were located right above the landslide disaster site.

"The artificial drainage that has not been walled has been infiltrated, causing the soil structure to become unstable and collapsing, and landslides have hit residents' houses in Pondok Daud Housing underneath," he said.

Another alleged violation is that SBG Housing does not have a retaining wall along the landslide path so that the soil cannot hold water when it rains heavily.

Further information from the community there was felling of trees on the slopes between SBG Housing and Pondok Daud Housing by the developer of Kampung Geulis Housing to be used as a road, so that the strength of the slopes became unstable.

"Areas based on geological and geographic conditions are declared prone to landslides or areas that experience landslides with a fairly high frequency," said Police Grand Commission Adjutant Eko.

Based on the technical procedure for housing development, it is regulated that the ground movement space pattern below 40 percent is allowed to build limited houses provided that it does not disturb the stability of the slope.

Furthermore, said the Sumedang Police Chief, the developer must implement an appropriate drainage system, minimize loading on the slopes, minimize the slope of the slope, construct roads following slope contours, and empty the slopes from human activities.

In addition, he continued, developers are required to undertake a geological study of environmental management or basic engineering geology as the basis for implementing development, but they are suspected of not having fulfilled this obligation.

"It is suspected that they did not conduct a geological study of the environmental system or basic engineering geology as the basis for the implementation of the development so that the impact on the environment was in the form of landslides," said Police Grand Commission Adjutant Eko.

The next stage, the Sumedang Police will ask for the construction of Kampung Geulis housing to the person in charge of technical development, then ask for information from the developer from PT Amaka Pondok Daud who built Cihanjuang A Regency Housing.

In addition, the Sumedang Police will ask for information or opinions from geologists from the Center for Volcanology and Geological Disaster Mitigation at the Geological Agency of the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, then from Bandung BMKG and ask for the opinion of criminal experts.

Previously, a landslide disaster filled residential homes in Cihanjuang Village, Cimanggung District, Sumedang Regency, Saturday, January 9, 2021, causing 40 people to die consisting of residents, TNI, and BPBD officers.