KUALA LUMPUR: Following the collapse of 15 structures over the last decade in Terengganu, Kuala Terengganu MP Raja Kamarul Bahrin wonders if the state government has any sense of accountability or concern for the well being of the public.
“You will notice that the structures that were affected were both big and small. Something is seriously wrong in the state,” he said.
Terengganu has a history of structures collapsing but little has been done to rectify the matter, he said.
“Take the Terengganu stadium roof collapse. The first one happened in 2009 and the investigation committee claimed that the case was being investigated, however, at the end of nine months nothing was presented,” he said during a press conference at the Parliament on Tuesday.
Raja Kamarul said the Terengganu government was now working on a land reclamation project involving 140 acres of land at the river mouth of the state.
“The construction is being overlooked only by the Malaysian Public works Department without involving Irrigation and Drainage Department when the construction is actually by the river and involves a densely populated area.
“The other thing that does not make sense is that this is merely a beautification process. There is no need to rush the project at the cost of neglecting the necessary safety procedures,” he said.
He said the state government was ignoring laws passed by its own legislative assembly and said the state government, despite expressing rage and regret over every accident, failed to follow up.
He pointed out that the 15 collapsed structures were public buildings.
“Take the stadium for example, when the roof over the grand stand collapsed four years ago, we questioned the contractor and the engineer who approved the project but nothing came of it.
“Back then no one was hurt, but during the recent collapse, five teenagers were injured but the identity of the engineer or the project owner was not revealed.
“So what is the state government hiding?” he said.-TheStarOnline
