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news without borders
Jaya Supermarket consultants
want project to continue
KUALA LUMPUR: Following the current
impasse and stop-work order over the col-
lapse of the Jaya Supermarket in Petaling
Jaya on May 28 this year, the professional
consultants involved in the redevelopment
project feel there is a need to find a way
forward for its continuity.
Seven Indonesian workers lost their lives
in the collapse which occurred during the
implementation stage of the demolition and
salvaging works.
An iconic building in Petaling Jaya at
one time, Jaya had consisted of a four-storey
retail podium with one basement car park
and a 10-storey office block.
But it was acquired for redevelopment a
few years ago by Jaya Section Fourteen Sdn
Bhd for a seven-storey shopping complex
with four floors of basement car park. The
project was conceived to help revitalise the
commercial part of Section 14.
The project consultant team compris-
ing three firms of professional architects,
consulting engineers and project managers
believes that there is need for a strong will
for the project to proceed.
MC Loo of DLS Management (M) Sdn
Bhd, the project managers for the develop-
ers, said: “We sympathise with the victims
of the building collapse and had made every
effort to facilitate and support the search and
recovery operations as well as help residents
in the area evacuate to nearby hotels.
“However, it has been two months since,
and we believe the time has come for the vari-
ous parties concerned to move forward and
help realise the economic benefits that the
development will bring to the community.
“We are at a standstill and unable to
move forward and we look to the various
parties to come together to find a solution.
Even the returning residents to the area are
asking when the demolition will be finished
and when the redevelopment will be com-
pleted.”
Police remove loan sharks’ stickers, posters
KAJANG: In their protracted fight against loan shark
menace, the police have removed about 3,200
stickers and posters offering illegal loans in the
Hulu Langat district over the past week.
Kajang police chief ACP Shakaruddin Che Mood
said policemen had been instructed to destroy
TJ Yeoh, of DP Architects (M) Sdn Bhd,
the architects in the redevelopment project,
hopes the authorities will lift the stop-work
order and the temporary blacklist imposed
on the various professional firms so that the
project can continue.
“Many vendors and supporting industries
are affected by the delays. We have reviewed
and refined the recovery plans and we are
reinforcing the safety procedures. We stand
ready to move in to continue with the site
recovery and remaining works but we have
not been given the green light. The rest of
the industry is watching to see what will
happen with Project Jaya,” he said.
According to the team members, what
had taken place on May 28 during the demo-
lition was unique in the country.
Following their own investigations, two
incident reports had been compiled – a Pre-
liminary Incident Report which was submit-
ted to the various authorities on June 4, or
seven days after the incident, and a 400-page
Detailed Incident Report, submitted on June
12, which contains probable causes that could
have contributed to the unplanned collapse of
the podium during demolition works.
Ng Lay Keong of Meinhardt (M) Sdn
Bhd, the firm of consulting engineers which
conducted the investigations, said the De-
tailed Incident Report was a comprehensive
account of the events leading up to the
incident. It describes the chronology, the
parties involved, the permits and approvals
obtained, the procedures observed as well as
a chronology post-incident.
“We were on site within half-an-hour
and had set up a temporary station across
the road to assist and to provide support to
the authorities during the search and rescue
operations during the initial few days. We
were also on standby to provide full sup-
port during the investigations, to facilitate
the needs of the community as well as to
compile information with which to produce
such stickers and posters in the district.
He said he had called about 50 telephone
numbers found on numerous posters put up by
the illegal moneylenders but those on the other
end of the line gave many excuses in not wanting
to meet him. – Bernama
our reports.
“Since the stop-work order was partially
lifted recently, we have been able to gain
limited access to enable us to prepare our
final report. We intend to submit this report
to the authorities and our client by this
week,” said Ng.
He hoped the authorities would publish
their findings so that the recovery efforts and
the redevelopment work could continue.
On the reasons why the building col-
lapsed before it was ready to be brought
down, the consultants said they were unable
to comment, as investigations by several
government agencies, including the Petal-
ing Jaya City Council (MBPJ), Public Works
Institute (Ikram) and the Department of Oc-
cupational Safety and Health (DOSH), were
still on-going.
“We believe that this is the first time
something like this has happened in the
country and this may be why the various
parties are taking some time to make a deci-
sion about the way forward,” said Loo.
It has been established that the Malaysian
standard for demolition work known as MS
282: Part 1 (De-molition), was enforced in
1975 but is generally considered outdated.
“The authorities have indicated that they
are considering drafting new demolition
guidelines following this incident. This is
definitely a wise move.
“This was also the case in other countries
such as Hongkong where new guidelines
were rolled out (after something had hap-
pened). We should be looking at demolition
codes in Hongkong, Britain or even Singa-
pore, which are good benchmarks for us.
“Urban redevelopment is necessary to
rejuvenate our cities in line with a dynamic
economy. If we do not learn from the Jaya
incident, we would have lost the opportu-
nity to do something good for the industry
as well as society as a whole,” said Yeoh.
– Bernama
MIC to deposit RM3.2m for
Kg Buah Pala land with lawyers
KUALA LUMPUR: The MIC will deposit the RM3.2
million premium with its lawyers for the return
of the Kampung Buah Pala land, party president
Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu said in a statement
yesterday.
He said when the Penang government is
ready to hand over the land to the Kampung
Buah Pala villagers, the party’s lawyers will make
the payment to the state government.
“I have instructed MIC’s lawyers to write to
the state government and chief minister (Lim
Guan Eng) to get the land matter cleared. The
lawyers will transmit the money when the land
is approved.”
Samy Vellu said that in any land deal, the
money would only be paid after the land had
been transacted or the documents for the trans-
action are ready. “Here, we have a chief minister
telling us to pay first and then let’s talk,” he said,
adding the MIC would keep its word and urged
Lim to do the same.
Samy Vellu said he was very surprised over
Lim’s statement that the MIC was “bluffing”
when it said it would pay the RM3.2 million.
“I respect him as a young dynamic person.
It is unfortunate that he can say anything that
suits his purpose for the moment and be willy
nilly when the table turns.
“We have to see what Lim had to say about
Bukit Cina in Malacca and compare with what he
Angkasa denies Cuepacs’ claim of RM8b commission
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Cooperative
Movement, Angkasa, yesterday denied allega-
tions that it received a commission of RM8.1
billion for providing loan repayment deduction
service for the government and the private
sector.
Angkasa vice-president Mustapa Kamal Mau-
lut said the body which was established 37 years
theSun | WEDNESDAY JULY 29 2009
Federal Court
frees death
row prisoner
PUTRAJAYA: A death-row prisoner who has spent
seven years behind bars for trafficking in 420g
of cannabis was freed by the Federal Court here
yesterday after it allowed his appeal.
Lee Kwan Woh, 32, was in tears and was hugged
by his family members after the court’s decision. He
had been detained in Taiping prison since 2002.
In allowing the appeal, Chief Judge of Sabah and
Sarawak Tan Sri Richard Malanjum, who headed
the panel, said the court was satisfied with the
defence’s submission.
“The conviction and sentence imposed by the
High Court and affirmed by the Court of Appeal are
set aside. The appellant (Lee) is to be freed forthwith
and we will give our grounds of written judgment in
due course,” said Malanjum who sat with justices
Datuk Hashim Yusoff and Datuk Gopal Sri Ram.
Lee, a building painter, was convicted and sen-
tenced to death by the Ipoh High Court on Sept 18,
2002, for trafficking in 420g of cannabis in Jalan
Selasar Rokam 10, Taman Ipoh Jaya, Ipoh, at about
4pm on April 4, 2000.
The Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal and
affirmed the conviction and sentence on Jan 7,
2007.
Lee’s counsel, Gobind singh Deo, submitted that
the High Court judge had misdirected himself in his
decision to call Lee to enter his defence without
having heard submissions from both parties at the
close of the prosecution’s case.
He said the serious misdirection by the judge had
denied Lee a fair trial and violated his constitutional
right under Article 5 of the Federal Constitution.
Deputy public prosecutor Saiful Edris Zainuddin
said the court could invoke Section 422 of the Crimi-
nal Procedure Code (CPC) for a retrial to correct
the decision of a trial judge who had misdirected
himself on the standard of evidence at the close of
the case, to cure the miscarriage of justice.
However, Sri Ram said it was the trial judge’s
duty to scrutinise the evidence before him for the
purpose of a fair trial before making a finding on
whether or not the accused was guilty and it was
the Court of Appeal’s duty to see whether the High
Court’s decision was safe or unsafe. – Bernama
is doing with Kampung Buah Pala.”
The DAP, of which Lim is the secretary-general,
had resolved the Bukit Cina issue in 1984.
Lim was quoted as saying that it showed the
DAP’s priority in preserving important culture
and heritage over development projects for the
sake of private gain.
Samy Vellu said MIC also wants to save Kam-
pung Buah Pala to preserve the Indian culture
and heritage.
He urged the state government not to take
the people for a ride as the land was transferred
during Lim’s time as chief minister and not by the
previous state government.
Meanwhile in Putrajaya, about 20 Kampung
Buah Pala residents yesterday handed over a
memorandum to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib
Abdul Razak, asking for his help in solving their
land problem.
The memorandum was received by Najib’s
special officer Datuk Nasir Safar at his office at
the Prime Minister’s Department here.
The Kampung Buah Pala land controversy
came about when the villagers were ordered
by the court to vacate the land before Aug
3 following the sale of the 2.6ha land by the
previous state government to Koperasi Pegawai
Kerajaan Pulau Pinang Bhd.
The cooperative has then appointed Nusmetro
Ventures (P) Sdn to develop the land.
ago had the information technology, expertise in
processing deductions and efficient staff and till
now no money had been lost.
Speaking at a news conference yesterday,
he said the Angkasa salary deduction system,
that involves a large part of loans through the
Angkasa code, had been administered safely.
– Bernama