By Clara Chooi - The Malaysian Insider
IPOH, Nov 16 – The Pakatan Rakyat’s ad hoc taskforce has revealed the findings of its investigation into the Kuala Dipang bridge tragedy and is holding the Perak Education Department’s Co-Curriculum Centre responsible.
The taskforce also revealed the much-awaited names of two companies, one company which “contributed” the bridge to the centre and the other which was responsible for building the structure.
Taskforce members said in a press conference today that the centre should be held responsible for the tragedy since it had handled the construction of the bridge and the entire process had been defective, both procedurally and structurally.
The bridge, they claimed, was illegally built without the submission of any plans or application to the local authorities and it was also structurally weak and not built according to proper specifications.
When contacted, the centre’s director Mohd Idris Ramli told The Malaysian Insider he did not have the jurisdiction to reveal any information on the matter or to issue any press statements.
He said only state education director Mohd Radzi Abd Jabar was allowed to speak with the media.
Mohd Radzi however is out of town and could not be reached for comment.
During the press conference at the Perak PR headquarters here today, the taskforce members revealed their findings via a comprehensive report they had put together after their two-week investigation.
The report, they said, would be handed over to their lawyers and other relevant parties so that further action could be taken.
The taskforce’s investigation included interviews with the Kinta Selatan district council, the chief assistant district officer, district officer, Drainage and Irrigation Department director, district education department director, a visit to the site, a visit to the co-curriculum centre’s office in Pangkor Island, a soil test, a report from an independent consultant engineer and a public inquiry with parents, teachers and students, all of whom were involved either directly or indirectly in the incident.
Amongst the damning evidence they had uncovered was that it had been the bridge’s weak foundation that had caused it to collapse on the late night of Oct 26.
It also said that the companies involved were GS Synergy Sdn Bhd, which had donated the bridge to the co-curriculum centre and CWL Enterprise, which had constructed the bridge.
The Malaysian Insider understands that GS Synergy, a commercial trading company based in Bandar Sunway, had funded some RM40,000 to build the bridge for the co-curriculum centre.
The PR panel did not investigate why the company had contributed the bridge to the centre.
“It is outside our terms of reference in this investigation. What we set out to do by forming this taskforce was to determine the cause of the collapse and to identify those involved so that the relevant parties can take necessary action,” said the panel’s chairman, Tronoh assemblyman V. Sivakumar.
The Puchong-based CWL Enterprise, in the meantime, has two companies under its umbrella, one which deals with medical supplies and another involved in construction work. Both have branches in Ipoh.
The panel however said their report was not out to point fingers at either the bridge’s contributor or the contractor for there was no information as yet on whether any plan at all had been created or submitted.
“Perhaps the contractor may have built according to the plan and then they may not be at fault. But because, as far as we know, there was no plan at all, then we cannot point fingers,” said panel member Pasir Pinji assemblyman Thomas Su.
The responsibility of the entire matter however, said Sivakumar, still lies with the co-curriculum centre.
“They were the ones who handled the construction of the bridge,” he said.
He added that the centre had earlier already proposed to build such a bridge to the district education department but did not respond when they were quoted a large sum of RM110,000 for the construction.
“The district education department director himself did not know that the centre went ahead and built the bridge. He himself was not informed and only knew about it this Oct 16,” said Sivakumar.
Meanwhile, according to another member Teja assemblyman Chang Lih Kang, the taskforce’s findings via the consultant engineer they had employed, showed that to comply with basic criterion, a bridge should be able to at least support 10,000kg of weight.
The Kuala Dipang bridge, however, could only support less than 1,000kg, he said.
“A properly designed and constructed suspension bridge of this size should be able to take at least a 10-tonne load.
“But for this bridge, we estimate that if the number of children on the bridge exceeds 20, it would have collapsed, like the way it did in the incident,” said Chang.
During the tragedy, an estimated 22 students who were participants in the Education Ministry’s 1 Malaysia unity camp, had fallen into the swift waters of the Kampar river when the bridge that they were crossing collapsed suddenly at about 10.30pm.
Three girls subsequently drowned in the incident, triggering a public outcry over the safety of the bridge and the campsite, as well as who should be blamed for its collapse.
Chang said that ideally, the counter weight or the concrete anchor that was holding up both sides of the bridge needed to be at least five times bigger than the actual one, if it were to comply with proper safety requirements.
“Typically, whoever builds a bridge needs to ensure that the counter weight is heavy enough to support the bridge at its full capacity.
“They need to assume that the bridge is packed with people on its deck and see if the anchor can support such a weight,” said Chang.
Besides the technical and procedural aspects of the bridge, the PR panel also pointed out defects in how 1 Malaysia camp itself had been handled.
“For one thing, it was very dark at the campsite. Even during the rescue operations, hardly anything could be seen.
“Even the Bomba boats were not equipped with lights and they had to use torch light to conduct their search and rescue,” said Sivakumar.
Next, he said the camp itself had been organised in a hasty manner, which resulted in a situation where only 23 teachers were available to handle all 298 students in the camp.
“Furthermore, the teachers were not trained to handle such emergencies.
“There was also no safety personnel available for the children and not one single medical personnel. In fact, they did not even bring with them basic first aid,” he said.
He added that due to the lack of teachers, the students were not monitored properly when they were asked to cross the bridge.
“Initially, they were asked to cross six at a time. But during the time of the incident, less than a handful or teachers were present and did not supervise.
“That was why there was a two-way traffic on the bridge at the time and too many students were crossing at the same time,” he said.
Based on its report, the committee has urged the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission to investigate the incident as there was clear evidence that some hanky-panky was involved in the construction of the bridge.
Besides that, the committee has also recommended for an end to be put on all 1 Malaysia camps until the safety issue is properly addressed, to take away any disclaimer clauses in the permission forms that parents are made to sign for the camps, close the co-curriculum centre’s premises in Kuala Dipang immediately, pay suitable compensation to the family of the three deceased and to bring to book all those responsible for the careless construction of the bridge.
Other recommendations include a suggestion to allow the PR to table an emergency motion on the tragedy in Parliament, ensure that parents were given detailed information on similar camps in the future, ensure that all such camps were fully equipped with good facilities like water and good lighting, and to ensure that the safety of camp participants were maintained at all times.
A soldier since 1970, Sarath Fonseka led the military to victory over the Tamil Tigers in May this year
He added he arranged for them to also take their luggage along so that they could leave soon after the passports were issued.
By Lee Wei Lian - The Malaysian Insider
