By Wilfred Pilo
KUCHING, Dec 14: The Ministry of Work will carry out a thorough investigation on the collapsed Miri’s Pujut By-pass Bridge to identify the causes of the mishap.
Minister of Work Baru Bian today gave assurance that his ministry will find out what causes the bridge under construction to collapse on Friday (Dec 13).
“I take this incident very seriously and based on the outcome of the investigation, any negligence on part of the company, we will take the necessary action,” he told reporters at a Christmas gathering held in Kuching Blind Centre today.
An initial report yesterday revealed that a portion of the structure heading from Vista Perdana to Eastwood collapsed at 2.20pm and two welders working in the vicinity were injured.
He stressed that contractors were supposed to uphold the international standard of safety at all construction sites, particularly the safety of workers on site.
Baru also informed that works at the site has been stopped with immediate effect to prevent any untoward incidents as safety of the workers and officers on the ground must be made priority as well as to facilitate further investigation.
“A stop work order has been issued, but my immediate concern is on the injured workers. I was told that they are recuperating well at home, with slight injuries.
“Of course the incident will cause some delay as well as additional cost on the bridge as the contractor need to amend and to put right what has gone wrong,” he added.
On schedule of the construction work of the bridge, Baru said he did not have the details on hand but explained that it was a component of the 11th Work Package Contract (WPC) of the Pan Borneo Highway project.
He also personally visited the site today. — DayakDaily
