Loke: Contractor to face the music

Photo: Bernama

PUTRAJAYA: Punitive action against the contractor responsible for last month’s crane collapse on KTM Bhd’s (KTMB) electrified double-track at the Rawang station will only be determined after the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) finishes its investigations, says Anthony Loke.

The Transport Minister said “contractor’s negligence” has been identified as the main cause leading to the collapse of a crane used for construction of a multi-level car park project next to the Rawang KTMB station.

“We have traced the cause to the contractor’s negligence in ensuring the safety of the crane work area, and a breach into the danger zone.

“The work site was also unstable and slippery, causing the crane to tilt onto the track areas and the crane boom to break,” Loke told a press conference at his ministry here yesterday.

These were among the findings in the report prepared by KTMB and the Public Works Department (JKR), said the Transport Minister.

“We have ordered Apad to look into the actions that can be taken regarding this matter.

“Apad is currently completing the investigation papers.

“Action will be taken under Section 128 (1)(A) of the Land Public Transport Act 2010 for causing damage, whether wilfully or through negligence, any railway or railway premises or any properties belonging to a licensed operator,” he said.

Upon conviction, those responsible may be liable to a fine not exceeding RM5,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or both.

“Apad will complete the investigation papers before handing them over to the Attorney- General’s Chambers for follow-up action,” he added.

On Dec 12, the crane’s collapse onto two parallel railway tracks did not only prevent trains from using them, but also severed overhead power lines used by electric train sets such as the ETS and some Komuter trains.

Although there were no injuries or casualties, the incident disrupted ETS and Komuter services for the KL Sentral-Tanjung Malim-KL Sentral line and cargo trains, also messing up train schedules for at least three days.

KTMB suffered some RM2.4mil in losses as a result.

Following the incident, the Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) issued a stop-work order to the contractor working on the site owned by Railway Assets Corporation (RAC), a federal statutory body under the Transport Ministry.

In a reply to The Star on Dec 15 last year, DOSH said it was still investigating the matter.

“Legal action will be taken if there are violations under the Occupation Safety and Health Act 1994 or Factories and Machinery Act 1967,” it said.

Aside from that, the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB) has powers to review what type of offences have been committed.

On Dec 17, CIDB said its preliminary investigations found that the soil at the site had been weakened from being waterlogged following continuous rain, leading to the crane tilting and falling.

CIDB, which also issued a stop-work order, said changes to the work schedule ought to take into account weather conditions.

Loke said JKR is currently assessing the amount of damage and the type of compensation that the contractor needs to bear.

In a response, the former head of the Land Public Transport Commission’s (SPAD) rail division, Yuslizar Daud, said it is unfortunate that this is yet another reactive situation, rather than proactive one.

“Based on the chronology, the monitoring and enforcement were evidently poor and sub-standard.

“I wonder whether there were any risk assessments or mitigations carried out in the work approval process.

“Hopefully, whatever we had put in place under SPAD can be reintroduced,” said Yuslizar, who is pursuing railway safety studies.