The suit is filed against their property developer and a private water utility company for negligence.
Lawyer Nurashikin Mansoor filed legal papers against Superview Development Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) at the KL High Court registry this morning on behalf of homeowners Datuk Amanullah Mohamed Yusof, Harveen Kaur and Thanarajah Kanagaratnam.
Each of the three homeowners is seeking payment for damages totalling between RM1.5 million and RM2.24 million.
Thanarajah, 41, also lost his wife Dr Yogeswary Narayanan in the December 6, 2008 incident.
The veterinarian was among five people trapped and buried under tonnes of earth.
The couple’s three children – sons Avinesh, 13, Thivesh, 12 and three-year-old daughter Priyanka – were also named as plaintiffs.
In their statement of claims, the homeowners charged that the developer and Syabas had failed to take proper safety measures while carrying out development and maintenance work on the hillside enclave, which resulted in the landslide.
They further pointed out that Superview, which started building in the area in 1984 “knew or ought to have known instability may develop after a long period of apparent instability due to the use of debris or failure debris [sic] of the 1985 landslide to build the slope/ berm at Block 13 and 16 of the land”.
The homeowners asserted that Superview “owes a common law duty of care and a statutory duty to owners and occupiers of Jalan Bukit Antarabangsa and Taman Bukit Mewah to ensure the design, suspension, construction and maintenance on the land are in accordance to proper engineering practice and/or in building the slope or undertaking earth work on the land pursuant to Section 71 of the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974”.
Syabas was also implicated for improper care of the waterpipes.
They insisted that Syabas has a legal duty take care of the waterpipes “so that it does not leak and cause the water to saturate the land and/or the slope at the surrounding area”.
Last year, Selangor Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim had leaked a classified investigation report which showed a burst water pipe owned by Syabas had triggered the landslide in the waterlogged leafy suburb, destroying 14 houses and causing millions in damages.
The Cabinet, then under Tun Abdullah Badawi, bowed to public pressure and agreed to declassify the report on the anniversary of the landslide last year, but later delayed its release.
Khalid is currently embroiled in another legal tussle with Syabas to revise water supply rates for the state.
The Pakatan Rakyat MB had previously pledged the state government would fund the legal fees of Selangor residents who incurred losses due to landslides, including residents of Bukit Antarabangsa.
He said it will help the residents bring the matter to court and decide who would be responsible for paying them compensation.
“We have made an agreement, whereby they will form a committee and we will provide a lawyer so that discussions can be done with the state government,” national news agency Bernama reported him saying on March 7 this year.
Several other Bukit Antarabangsa homeowners who lost loved ones and property had also previously threatened to sue.
Among them are retiree Datuk Shaharuddin Adnan, 62 and businessman Ungku Farid Ungku Abd Rahman.
Shaharuddin’s 20-year-old son was buried alive in the rubble. Ungku Farid lost his 32-year-old Indonesian maid, Suenah, in the disaster.
Under the Public Authorities Protection Act, legal action against such public institutions is time-capped to three years.
