A 100-year-old Chinese temple located near the KL118 skyscraper project, formerly known as Warisan Merdeka, found that its retaining wall has collapsed after construction work on the tower had started.

If that is not bad enough, a 40-year-old tree behind the "Wei Ting Keong Kuan Yin Temple" also began to tilt, and the temple's meeting room floor was soaked with water seeping through the ground due to heavy rain.

Thay Peng Kee, the president of Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Hokkien Association which operates the temple, warned that the above are signs of landslides which may happen one day if the problems continue.

"Now just the retaining wall at the back of temple has collapsed. We are worried that the whole temple may collapse in future if the situation persist," Thay ( photo ) told a press conference after taking reporters around the temple to witness the damages.

There is a three-metre high slope at the back of the temple and the KL118 project site is just above the slope. The temple and the construction site are separated by a small drain.

The retaining wall which collapsed was built at the bottom of the slope at the back of temple.

According to Thay, after a downpour at 4pm last Friday, the temple administrator found that some parts of the retaining wall had collapsed the next morning.

He alleged that the construction work at the 118-storey project has caused the block in the drainage system and the rain water could not flow as normal.

"The drainage is blocked and the rain water can't flow, thus seeps into the land. Moreover, the developer had cleared the trees near the drainage above the small slope.

"It caused the retaining wall to collapse at the end when it cannot withstand the water pressure after the downpour.

"If too much rain, some of the water will directly rush down at the back of the temple if it too late to penetrate the soil," said Thay.

Solve blocked drainage problem

Meanwhile, association director Toong Ah Tea said the amount of water which made its way to the meeting room through underground can fill five large containers.

Toong, who is an engineer, said the water seepage from the underground shows risk of landslides because the soil may wash out and cause the temple to collapse.

He said a staircase outside the temple leading to the construction site also began to see some cracks, but added that the staircase does not belong to the temple.

Thay said the temple administrator has contacted the developer and still waiting for their reply.

"We want the developer to solve the problem of blocked drainage and widen it to avoid rain water from being accumulated in the small slope.

"We also demand the developer to repair our retaining wall," he added.

The Star reported on Nov 23 last year that Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) had awarded the contract to build the tower to the joint venture of South Korea’s Samsung C&T and UEM Group Bhd.

PNB president and group chief executive Hamad Kama Piah Che Othman had said that the contract was worth about RM3.4bil.

Malaysiakini has contacted PNB and waiting for their reply.