Recently, a group of developers and builders from Sabah Housing And Real Estate Developers Association (SHAREDA) and the Sabah Builders Association (SBA), respectively made a joint courtesy visit to the Minister of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) Malaysia, Y.B. Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Tangau at the latter's office.

The Minister was briefed on the overall concerns and objections of the proposed benchmark figure of single PGA value of 0.12g rating to be uniformly imposed to Sabah. The proposal was recommended by the Technical Committee appointed by the Malaysian Standards Department. The drastic decision of the proposed single PGA to be implemented based on the Draft Malaysian Standard of the Malaysia National Annex to MS EN 1998-1:2015 Eurocode 8 on design of structures for earthquake resistance was announced during a forum & dialogue session organised by Ministry of Local Government And Housing (MLGH) on 23 March 2016.

SHAREDA expressed grave concern that the property price will push higher by another 10% to 30% and add burden to the already conceived expensive property prices in Sabah. SBA President Mr Cheong Kwee Min stressed the effects of the chain-link impacts and implications to the overall nation's economy and not just requesting the industry players to merely comply without economic sense in mind.

SHAREDA had submitted their comments through the Public Comment on why SHAREDA objected to the original proposal presented at the said forum, based on technical reasons and findings. Thus, SHAREDA was invited to attend the national consultation held on 23 August 2016 in Kuala Lumpur.

SHAREDA welcomed the outcome of the national consultation that the Working Group (WG1) on Seismic Action has expanded to include the Minerals and Geoscience Department Sabah, and SHAREDA among other stakeholders from Sabah and Sarawak, to work out the zonation and new PGA values within 3 months thereon. And that the previous proposal of single PGA value of 0.12g in Sabah was not adopted at the said meeting. Hence, it is obvious and pertinent that the study group should firstly understand the seismicity and earthquake source, geological and tectonic settings of Sabah and made recommendations based on facts and reports/data available. It should not be based on comparison to other countries where such standards have already implemented. In the case of Sabah, reference can be made from the comprehensive study on the Seismic And Tsunami Hazards And Risks In Malaysia commissioned by MOSTI and coordinated by the Academy of Science Malaysia (ASM) from 2006-2009. The MOSTI Study has documented and produced a Seismotectonic map of Malaysia as well as a seismic zonation map of Sabah showing PGA values of 0.06 g in the West Coast region to 0.12g in the East Coast region of Sabah.

In conclusion, both SHAREDA and SBA thanked the Minister YB Datuk Seri Panglima Wilfred Tangau for the opportunity to meet with him and present our case. Henceforth, the local experts of the sub-study group for Sabah Earthquake had been formed and already commenced meetings to gather data for the seismic hazard study.