KUCHING: The main factor that caused the landslide at Pan Borneo Highway between Tatau and Bintulu that rendered the road impassable was not the heavy rain in the last few days but irresponsibility and negligence of the contractors and supervisory authorities.
Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing
This was pointed out by Bintulu MP Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing in a statement yesterday.
He said those involved in the building of the highway must take full responsibility for the disaster as the cause of the landslide was poor drainage of that section and lack of protection of the slope on the side of the road.
“There is no excuse for the consultants and engineers for not taking all the necessary precautions in their design as they are highly paid professionals they should have foreseen the consequences of accumulation of water in the soil due to inadequate drainage and lack of slope protection.”
Tiong also questioned Minister of Works Baru Bian who recently pledged to personally monitor the project and was reported to have declared he was satisfied with the progress and construction of the highway.
“Obviously the minister must have made only superficial inspection of the implementation of the project sites as how could he say that he was satisfied when the design and construction of the road were flawed.
“If the minister had demanded a more comprehensive briefing he would have seen that the culverts used to drain the water from the soil were inadequate and even a layman could see there was no protection for the slope that had been cleared of trees and vegetation along the road.”
The Bintulu MP called on the Works Minister to instruct the Public Works Department (JKR) to conduct more stringent supervision on the construction of the road and LebuhRaya Borneo Utara (LBU), the project delivery partner of the Pan Borneo Highway, to keep a stricter control of the contractors.
“Some parties could have cut corners in carrying out their work and did not follow the specifications of their contract and JKR and LBU have failed in their supervisory duties.”
Tiong pointed out that the landslide had affected the schedule for the completion of the highway and called on Baru to conduct checks on other stretches of the highway which may be affected by landslides.
“He must make sure the contractors follow the specification of their contracts and review the designs of the parts of the road that are susceptible to landslides.”