Possible negligence investigated on Malaysian sinkhole incident
8 July 2014Malaysia's Federal Territories Ministry is investigating whether there was negligence on the part of the contractor of an underpass project where a sinkhole occurred at the Jalan Imbi-Jalan Pudu intersection, in Kuala Lumpur on 2 July, Bernama (National News Agency of Malaysia) reported.
Its minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor said stern action would be taken against the contractor involved if there is proof of negligence.
"The soil instability was caused by a burst Syabas (Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor) pipe, resulting in the cave-in," he said.
He was asked to comment on the cave-in incident at the underpass project under Kuala Lumpur City Hall which left a big, deep hole at the road intersection. In the 9.30am incident on 2 July, part of the 35m underground tunnel which is under construction for four vehicle lanes to ease congestion at the Jalan Imbi intersection, collapsed to a depth of 5m following soil movement.
Tengku Adnan said remedial work was going on, including pumping soil and cement to stabilise the affected area, besides checking the Monorail track which was affected by the cave-in incident.
"We hope it will be completed in two weeks," he said. The minister said the incident was unavoidable, but he reminded contractors carrying out underground works to be extra careful and to study the site condition first in order to prevent any untoward incident.
