Published: Saturday May 30, 2009 MYT 4:54:00 PM
Updated: Saturday May 30, 2009 MYT 7:11:39 PM
Jaya Supermarket collapse: Nearby residents to be evacuated (Update)
By M. KUMAR and BEH YUEN HUI
PETALING JAYA: Residents from 12 houses along Jalan 14/15 behind the collapsed Jaya Supermarket in Petaling Jaya will be evacuated to ensure their safety before more demolition is carried out.
The 69 people affected would have to stay out of their homes for at least a week while independent engineers assess the stability of the building, said Petaling Jaya Mayor Datuk Mohd Roslan Sakiman Saturday.
Petaling Jaya City Council offered Dewan MPPJ at Kelana Jaya as a temporary home but residents refused it.
So, the building demolition contractors offered to put them up at a nearby hotel.
However, the residents are unhappy about the RM150 per day per house offer as they deem it inadequate.
The mayor said that MPPJ would also probe the cause of the collapse and would obtain proper expertise in demolition works in the future.
Earlier, civil engineer Dr Arham Abdullah, senior lecturer at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia’s Civil Engineering Faculty, said the residents should be evacuated to create a safety buffer zone for further demolition works.
He said the buffer zone should extend to a radius of twice the height of the building, according to British standards.
“The force is now moving towards the remaining structure of about 21-metre in height.
“If works are to be carried out, the building may collapse towards Jalan 14/15,’’ he said after visiting the site Saturday.
But left untouched, it would not collapse, he said.
Dr Arham said he had yet to interview the contractor, workers or machine operators involved in the demolition of the shopping complex.
“My initial observation is that excessive loads on the top floor caused the support columns to fail and resulted in the building collapse,’’ he said, adding there were five heavy vehicles on the building.
However, he said further investigation had to be carried out to identify the cause of the tragedy.
Dr Arham also urged the government to establish and enforce stricter guidelines on demolition work.
He said the code of practice for demolition work implemented in developed countries such as Britain, United States and Australia, required contractors to consult professionals but this was not practised in Malaysia.
“Here, we only need to obtain approvals from the local authorities and the Department of Occupational Safety and Health,’’ he said.
Petaling Jaya OCPD Asst Comm Arjunaidi Mohamed said police were seeking professional opinion on the stability of the building.
“We are waiting for advice,’’ he said when asked when evacuation, if any, was to be carried out.
News Poll
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- New evidence on MCA snoop squad case arrives at doorstep
- Girl and stepmum held over bid to kill first wife
- Biggest karaoke session a blast
- Teoh’s body exhumed for second autopsy today
- Chin Peng apologises for death of innocents
- Victim’s dad nabs kidnapper
- Puad faces flak over ‘use Bahasa only’ remark
- Foreigner falls to her death from condominium
- Rotten fish the cause of cholera in Sabah and Sarawak
- Johor set to be a medical hub
- Indonesia seizes ammonium nitrate shipment from Malaysia
- Court ruling takes bite out of local council summonses
- Same stock, different folk
- It’s still hard to forgive
- Southern sore still needs to heal
- Weapons drawn for new battle
- Draw valuable, life-saving lessons from tragedies
- Lots of smoke and hot air but little bite
- We are the champions
RSS
