Resort MD fined RM150,000 for building collapse that took 2 lives

A three-storey building under construction at a resort on Pulau Perhentian collapsed on Nov 9 last year.

PETALING JAYA: The managing director of Male Beach Resort Sdn Bhd was fined RM150,000 by the Besut sessions court for failing to ensure the safety of a building during construction, resulting in the deaths of two migrant workers last November.

Lee Boon Han, 55, pleaded guilty after the charges were read before trial judge Fadhli Mahmud.

The court also ordered Lee to serve six months in jail if he failed to pay the fine, Utusan Malaysia reported.

According to the charge sheet, a three-storey dining hall collapsed, crushing seven workers, sometime between 1am and 5am, on Nov 9 last year.

Two workers, both Indonesian nationals, Suparo and Fathul Munir died in the incident.

Lee was charged with failing to ensure the safety of the building during its construction and causing the death of the two workers.

He was found to have violated his obligation as a contractor to ensure the safety of the building and the work carried out during the construction of the building.

According to the report, it was found that Lee had used conceptual drawings provided by a freelancer. The drawings were not certified by a qualified consultant.

He also did not obtain approval or planning permission from the Besut district council and did not carry out soil investigation at the construction site.

Lee was said to have also failed to provide an environmental impact assessment report for the construction project and hired an “incompetent” site supervisor as well as unskilled workers who were not certified by the Construction Industry Development Board (CIDB).

This caused the three-storey building, which was under construction, to collapse.

CIDB chief prosecutor Abdul Razak Husin prosecuted while Lee was represented by lawyer Hayder Yazid.

In mitigation, Hayder requested that the sentence imposed on his client be reduced as his guilty plea had saved the court’s time and it was his first offence.

“Lee also took responsibility and paid for the treatment costs of the five injured workers and the repatriation expenses of Suparo and Fathul to Indonesia, totalling RM44,300,” he said.

Previously, the media reported that a restaurant building at a resort on Pulau Perhentian in Besut suddenly collapsed at 4.30am on Nov 9.