YOURSAY | Lessons not learnt: How much are lives worth?

YOURSAY | ‘It could be one of us driving near a highway under construction one day…’

Three dead after crane topples off construction site onto car

IndigoKite6964: It’s the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (Suke) again! Which means lessons were not learnt.

How much does a human life cost? RM80,000? RM100,000? Is that what the construction companies will be fined for this mishap?

How will they guarantee no more lives will be taken while they build this elevated highway? It could be any of our lives next when we use the roads affected by this construction.

These are lives needlessly lost. Bring in external auditors or appoint another company that is competent enough to do the job.

For our sake, I hope it is not another backdoor deal after greasing some palms or one involving political funds.

If it surfaces that this job was awarded by way of corruption, then the politician involved should be held responsible for the accidents and deaths as well.

GoldenParrot4280: This is the third major accident at Suke. In the first one, a concrete slab fell onto a car. The driver was very lucky to be alive.

Second, a collision involving a trailer and the support/scaffolding of the elevated highway led to the collapse of a structure (two died). This was initially blamed on the overloaded trailer.

In the first accident, Works Ministry Fadillah Yusof said the main contractor and subcontractor of the particular segment of the Suke project were fined RM180,000 for failing to ensure safety at the construction site.

The second accident should still be under investigation. If there is negligence or wrongdoing of any kind, I hope the authorities would take stiff action.

I think the government should also look into imposing stiffer penalties. Make it hurt so much that the construction companies would be forced to improve safety standards.

Come on, we are talking about lives here! It could be one of us driving near a highway under construction one day.

Appum: Too many tragedies in a short space of time reflect some serious inadequacies as far as heavy engineering is concerned here.

Certainly, the relevant authorities such as the Works Ministry, Construction Industry Development Board, and the main contractors should be held responsible for such negligence. More so, if it happens at the same elevated highway construction.

Surely there must be issues of incompetency and negligence. We just hope the victims and their families would sue these organisations for compensation, although no amount of money can bring back lives and remove the suffering and great pain of those involved.

Vijay47: One does not need to be a rocket scientist to know that roads and highways need to be closed while heavy machinery is being moved, especially at overhead platforms and columns.

In the wake of the earlier Suke accident, there were several video clips of the site. What was shocking was that traffic flow was allowed to continue and worse, almost within touching distance of the fallen concrete beams.

What would have happened if the vehicle vibrations caused more weakened pillars to collapse? Blame it on an act of God?

P_Mammen: Yet another fatal construction accident. How will the relevant authorities respond, or rather what is their excuse this time?

I hope God’s name is not dragged into this mess. The growing number of accidents in one of the most hazardous industries is both alarming and troubling.

A friend, who lives in a condominium just behind the accident site and witnessed the whole gory sight, said he couldn’t stomach it.

This is extremely sad for the immediate families of the dead. What a way for a loved one to depart.

I am furious with these construction companies and the lackadaisical authorities. There are serious safety problems at these sites that need immediate and apt addressing - that much is clear.

Ketupat 4444: When an accident happens, everyone is angry, but this is nothing new in our country. There are many parties involved and to specifically blame a sub-contractor or main contractor is the easiest way.

Why do such accidents keep happening? One need not look far; just look at how Singapore is managing its construction projects and its no-nonsense approach towards all stakeholders - it has proven to be an effective solution.

The question is, what is preventing Malaysia from adopting the construction best-practice from Singapore? The answer is as clear as the blue sky and for obvious reason, it cannot be implemented here.

Ravinder: The repeated occurrences of these accidents reflect the inability of the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (Dosh) to ensure strict compliance with all rules, regulations, and procedures for all construction works.

After the mishaps, injuries and deaths of innocent people, will Dosh only then descend to the site to look for the cause? This is just management by complaints! If there are no accidents, do you consider that everything is fine?

When accidents do happen, they do a post-mortem. But what for? Do the authorities care and do they know that prevention is better than cure? Dosh should be held responsible.

VioletFish0943: The way things are being run in this country, we must thank God that it is not happening much more frequently. Is there any enforcement of the law?

What can we expect when we hardly have a functioning government. We thought the rakyat won in 2018. That turned out to be a hollow victory.

We elected traitors who have jumped to satisfy their insatiable lust for money. How long more will the rakyat need to endure these unscrupulous people?

Newday: When does yet another accident, especially involving construction sites resulting in deaths, end up being one accident too many? Will it be this one?

I am sure much hot air from the relevant authorities will come out in the next few days and weeks, contractor fined, hopefully families of the deceased and injured properly compensated, and then what? Will the normal situation of little oversight and lax safety continue?

Come on. Every time these avoidable deaths and injuries happen, we reaffirm our status as a third-world country.

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