Published: Friday July 3, 2009 MYT 6:56:00 PM
Updated: Friday July 3, 2009 MYT 7:08:43 PM
Stop work order on Penang super condo
GEORGE TOWN: The Penang Municipal Council (MPPP) has issued a stop-work order to Hunza Properties Bhd, developer of a super condominium project, after a 10m stretch of Kelewai Road sank Thursday night.
MPPP president Tan Cheng Chui said the council ordered the developer to rectify the problem and come up with a report on the condition of its Gurney Paragon East and West Towers.
A road adjacent to a multi-storey carpark of another nearby condominium was cordoned off after part of Kelewai Road sank up to 1.2m and cracked at 8pm.
“They have to provide reasons and give a letter of guarantee that the building is safe.
“Until all rectification work is done on the damage, the developer and contractor cannot continue with the building project,” Tan said Friday.
He said he had received numerous reports from residents that construction work was carried out late into the night.
State Local Government and Traffic Management Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow urged the MPPP to instruct the developer and contractors to carry out round the clock surveillance over the next few days.
Hunza group executive chairman Datuk Khor Teng Tong said they would take full responsibility, adding that its consultants had been instructed to handle the issue.
The Gurney Paragon East and West Towers, upon completion, will see two 43-storey buildings consisting of 240 units of service apartments.
It also has a commercial podium and two storeys of basement parking.
“We have identified the cause. The sheet piles that were used by the basement contractor to temporarily hold the sides of the excavation gave way,” he said, adding that it led to the subsidence of the ground behind the sheet piles including the driveway of the next door 42-storey Gurney Park condominium.
Its engineer Tong Veng Wye said a thorough check showed no signs that buildings in Gurney Park were in danger.
“We’ve inspected the main pillars and there is no tilting or serious cracks. Another fortunate thing is that Gurney Park has basement car parks and that means its foundation is more sturdy and the incident did not affect it,” he said, adding that the inspection report would be ready by Monday.
Khor said remedial works were initiated on Thursday night commencing with the backfilling of the excavation.
“Remedial works are not expected to last longer than 10 days as work will be done around the clock,” he added.
Resident Stephen Abbott, 55, said he saw workers using sand to cover up the cracks.
“We’re concerned that the cracks and sunken road might cause more cracks and our multi-storey parking lots with the swimming pool on the fifth floor might cave in,” he said.
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