State Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg officiating the Engineering Conference 2011 organised by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) with Unimas Vice-Chancellor Prof. Datuk Dr Khauruddin Ab Hamid (left).
State Housing Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg said the peat soil requires potential investors to pump in more money to avoid the possibility of major cracks or landslide once their infrastructure projects are completed.
"For example, for housing projects, the piling must be done correctly to avoid any crack or collapse. Score demands that more manpower accommodation be built near the workplace, and this is a big challenge," he told reporters after opening the Engineering Conference 2011 organised by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (Unimas) here today.
He said Unimas could take the lead in conducting the study as it had the expertise and the facilities to do so.
Abang Johari, who also tourism minister, said a university in Adelaide, Australia, can serve as a model as it has a retention pond that absorbs water from the surrounding areas and allows the soil to be compressed and compact.
"The pond has been turned into a tourism attraction also, and I think the experts can look into the possibility in terms of the development on peat soil here," he said.
