By Nigel Edgar
KUCHING, Feb 25: Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg has reminded engineers and consultants not to compromise on design quality, especially when implementing state infrastructure development projects.
He said this following an appeal by the Association of Consulting Engineers Malaysia (ACEM) Sarawak Branch to the state government to review and revise the state’s minimum multiplier factors for engineering and consultancy firms in the state.
Abang Johari said the government was willing to review the multiplier factors, but engineering firms and consultants must also match the proposed higher revised numbers by improving on design quality.
“We do not want something like the road in Pakan. The quality could also be compromised if the supervisory staff has no integrity.
“So if you increase the multiplier factor, your quality must also be improved. If not, it would not match,” he advised members of ACEM Sarawak Branch during a dialogue session here this morning.
Abang Johari also revealed that last year, when he rode his trike (three-wheeled motorcycle) along the new Simunjan road, the condition of the road was sub-par.
“Also I’m quite concerned with our roads (quality), especially over swampy or soft soil. Like the one in Simunjan, actually, the road is still quite new. I went there on my motorbike last year. It’s (road surface) just like waves, so much so I told the people in Simunjan that when I come back I will ask JKR to improve that road.
“It has been fixed today. Because I was on my bike, luckily I could handle my bike. Otherwise, mati oh, jatuh because of the gelombang (uneven road surface) on the road.”
Yesterday, a section of Jalan Pakan-Entabai Engkamop collapsed at around 4am, which almost claimed the lives of a pickup truck driver and his passenger when the vehicle they were travelling in fell into the collapsed road.
It was suspected that the road collapsed due to soil erosion after continuous heavy rain.
Commenting on that, Minister of Infrastructure and Transportation Tan Sri Dr James Jemut Masing said he did not want to just blame the rain for causing the soil erosion.
“It’s also a question of, maybe, some designs need to be done properly, and I think the engineers in Sarawak as well as in Malaysia should have a look at this very seriously, both bridges and roads.
“It (collapsed road) could cause fatal accidents. I was also quite shocked when I saw the (Pakan road collapse) news in the morning,” he told reporters. — DayakDaily
