Architect: I didn’t get full roof details
(NST) – KUALA TERENGGANU: Details of the space frame design of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium roof were never fully supplied to its principal architect Datuk Raja Kamarul Baharin Shah Raja Ahmad.
Raja Kamarul Baharin told the New Straits Times that although his company, Senibahri Arkitek was not responsible for the roof, he had voiced his concern to the state Public Works Department.
"Everybody could see that the frame was deformed," he said.
A Korean contractor was responsible for the design, supply and the installation of the roof, while the rest of the stadium was designed by Senibahri.
He said it was important to obtain details of the roof structure so that engineers could determine if it was suitable.
"I feel this incident could have been avoided if the details had been furnished in full," said Raja Kamarul Bahrain, who is in Mecca performing umrah.
Raja Kamarul Baharin said he initially did not want to comment on the matter but decided to do so after a television station aired his picture when reporting about the collapse.
This, he said, had put him in a bad light, implying that he was responsible for the debacle.
Employees of the stadium's management board said it had been common for them to stumble upon screws, nuts and bolts months before the collapse of the roof on Tuesday.
Speaking on condition of anonymity, an employee said the incident did not come as too much of a surprise as they had felt something like this would happen.
Some believed the lack of maintenance — probably because of the height of the roof, estimated to be about 30m high — was one of the reasons for the collapse.
"Maintenance was supposed to be carried out by the main contractors since the stadium has yet to be handed over to the state government," sources said.
State PWD deputy director Ghazali Hashim said the department had been appointed to investigate the incident which he estimated would take six months to complete.
Ghazali said the stadium was still under the main contractors' warranty.
The collapsed roof caused many red faces in the state as the RM292 million state-of-the-art stadium was built only about a year ago.
