Residents of Taman Kelab Ukay in Bukit Antarabangsa, Ampang, have raised concerns over potential landslides in their neighbourhood from ongoing construction of the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) project.

This follows the reported incident of some 50 pre-schoolchildren from Q-Dees kindergarten being forced to evacuate after earth fissures appeared in their playground.

Taman Kelab Ukay Residents Association committee member, Surender Singh told Malaysiakini the children's safety is now at risk.

He said several fissures measuring up to 30cm wide and stretching the entire length of the playground had appeared as result of earthworks carried out near a fence that separated the kindergarten from a monsoon drain.

"This portion of the river is the first section that they (contractor) tried to shift closer to the houses, in order to build the highway.

"We were informed by the contractor today that the incident happened because their sub-contractor did not follow procedures which had been agreed upon," he said.

Q-Dees Bukit Antarabangsa principal, Josephine Fernandez, as saying that she had decided to close the kindergarten until further notice until remedial works were carried out, The Malay Mail reported.

Malaysiakini also sighted several photographs from the site that showed cracks appearing on the retaining wall.

It is understood that the residents had previously raised their concerns with the project developer and contractor but were reassured that precautionary measures had been taken to avoid such incident.

Developer for the EKVE project, meanwhile, has pledged full support for operators of the affected kindergarten.

In a statement, EKVE senior general manager Mohd Khalid Mohamed said while the developer was aware of inconveniences that would arise from the closure, the move was necessary to ensure safety of all children and staff.

“In the interim, we stand ready to provide all support to the management of Q-Dees Kindergarten in mitigating the disruption such a closure will have on the children, parents and staff of the kindergarten,” he said.

According to Mohd Khalid, the incident yesterday morning saw earth movements at the slope adjacent to the playground of the kindergarten, resulting in earth fissures appearing in parts of its playground.

“As a result, the kindergarten was closed early and all children were sent home as a precautionary measure.

“Since then, EKVE has done work to stabilise the affected slope and to minimise further earth movements. So far, the earth movements have been localised around the kindergarten’s playground area and has not affected any of the buildings nearby,” he said.

Mohd Khalid also said EVKE has been cooperating with the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council and the Malaysian Highway Authority (LLM) to ensure safety of the overall area.

This is on top of engaging independent experts to advise EKVE and the authorities on steps to ensure future safety off all stakeholders, he added.

The RM1.55-billion EKVE is a 24.16km project linking Sungai Long in Kajang to Ukay Perdana in Ampang.

The road-widening segment of the project is expected to be completed next year, while the entire project is scheduled for completion in 2019.