PM, DPM to visit Batang Kali landslide site - Fahmi

PUTRAJAYA: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and several ministers will visit the site of a landslide near the Father's Organic Farm in Gohtong Jaya, Batang Kali, that occurred early today.

Communications and Digital Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the matter was conveyed to him by Anwar when he contacted the prime minister this morning.

"I had a short conversation with the prime minister before entering this hall (the ministry's staff monthly assembly venue) and he (Anwar) had instructed deputy prime ministers and several ministers to visit the site.

"Insya-Allah the prime minister will visit the site tonight," he said in his New Year message at the monthly assembly of the Ministry of Communications and Digital (KKD), here today.

Fahmi and all the ministry's staff attending the assembly also observed a minute's silence for victims of the landslide incident.

In the incident at about 2 am, around 100 people are feared trapped after a landslide struck a campsite in Gohtong Jaya and rescue efforts are underway.

Fahmi also reminded KKD's staff to only disseminate verified and authentic information or news about the landslide incident to the public.

"This is because all kinds of information can be easily disseminated through Whatsapp and social media. I would like to remind all to verify (the validity of information) before disseminating it," he said.

He said two initiatives under the KKD, namely sebenarnya.my and mycheck.my as well as the Department of Information (Japan) played an important role in verifying any viral news, which would then be disseminated via Radio Television Malaysia (RTM) and the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama).

-- BERNAMA