The Malaysian Insight

DESPITE being blacklisted by Penang authorities over accidents in Bukit Kukus, contractor Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd has been allowed to proceed with work at the construction site.

Twenty-five per cent of the work on the pair road in the hilly area of Paya Terubong is to be completed by May next year.

The project’s completion, which was initially scheduled for last month, had been delayed by several factors, including stop-work orders following two incidents at the site October last year.

In the first incident, a number of construction beams were accidentally knocked off by a worker manning a crane, leading to a stop-work order by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) on October 17.

The second incident was a landslide at another section of the road project, which killed nine foreigners.

Blacklisted firms continue work

Deputy Chief Minister I Ahmad Zakiyuddin Abdul Rahman, who chairs the state’s special committee investigating the Bukit Kukus accident, said the Penang Island City Council (MBPP), which owns the project, had decided to let Yuta Maju proceed with the work.

He said apart from the two incidents, which the contractor was answerable for, the firm had done acceptable work.

“That is why the council decided against terminating the contract with Yuta Maju, allowing the firm to continue its work on the road project,” he told a press conference in Komtar today.

He said Yuta Maju was selected via an open tender to build the project after it submitted the best bid. 

He also said the firm had a good track record and had experience building projects in Kuala Lumpur.

Zakiyuddin, a civil engineer by training, said appointing a new contractor would take time, causing further delays when work needed to be done fast to treat the exposed hillslopes to ensure similar incidents did not happen.

“The risks could become greater. So the state feels the decision by the MBPP to retain the contractor can be accepted.

“The priority now is to have MBPP step up on its site management for this project and restructure its team to monitor and supervise the construction work,” he said.

However, the contractor remains blacklisted by MBPP and other state agencies, along with the consultant GEA Sdn Bhd and the independent checking engineer G&P Professional Sdn Bhd.

Zakiyuddin said the three firms could not tender for state projects until further decisions were made on the matter.

Stop-work order, heavy rain, weaknesses

As for factors that led to the fatal landslide, the state investigation committee said heavy rain on October 19, the day the landslide happened, was not properly irrigated at the site and it caused the slope to become unstable.

Because of the earlier October 17 stop-work order, the contractor also could not enter the site to conduct maintenance work. 

As a result, the temporary toe drain that was built to deal with the surface run-off collected rainwater behind the embankment, worsening the risk of slope collapse.

The committee also identified seven other factors. Among them were unsafe construction processes; lack of supervision, comprehensive inspection and testing; and poor management of sub-contractors.

The other factors were the failure to recognise the significance of the earlier incident (collapse of the beams) and to identify risk due to the change of process and risk communication.

The committee also found that the contractor had built a field embankment used as a temporary work site without making engineering calculations or submitting the method statement to the consultant or resident engineer, leading to the possibility that best construction practices were not followed.

Zakiyuddin said Yuta Maju’s mitigation work at the construction site was unsatisfactory, according to the authorities Ops Lumpur report and findings by the Drainage and Irrigation Department.

He said the temporary slope was not designed by an accredited engineering consultant and built without endorsement, violating guidelines by the Board of Engineers Malaysia.

“The contractor did not have a professional engineer for temporary works to design, certify and supervise work on the slope. So, they didn’t have any drawings or calculations to send to the consultant.

“There was no method statement sent for approval before works on the slope began. Also, the loss of lives might not have happened if the containers were vacated as instructed. Safety at the work site is the contractor’s responsibility,” he said.

It was around the time of Friday prayers when the landslide happened. Some of the foreign workers were resting in the containers when the slope collapsed.

Zakiyuddin said the consultant engineer was responsible of monitoring works at the site, including temporary works.

The independent checking engineer (ICE) appointed by MBPP was found to have failed to obey its job scope, which included checking the design work for temporary structures.

“The ICE is supposed to conduct site visits and report to MBPP if it finds that work has been done not according to the set criteria to enable action to be taken immediately.”

The committee also said MBPP also bore responsibility as the enforcer to supervise, monitor and record the work progress at the site, even though it had appointed a consultant engineer to oversee the project.

Asked if the state would publicise the special committee’s report, Zakiyuddin said the report was only for the state executive council’s consumption and to serve as a guideline for future action. – February 13, 2019.