Stadium crash raises questions, again
SHODDY work will show. Always. The big front-page picture on the June 3 issue of Utusan Malaysia showed everyone how bad the damage was to the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin Stadium whose roof collapsed just one year after it opened.
By Ahmad A Talib (NST)
The RM300 million stadium also carries the name of our Yang di-Pertuan Agong, whose official birthday was yesterday. One wonders what his majesty is feeling after seeing the stadium, which had been billed the pride of his home state, reduced to rubble for the world to see.
It was only last year that the stadium was used for Sukma. The roof collapsed at 9am on Tuesday but, luckily, no one was injured. It has now been declared unsafe.
Works Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, who visited the site, was quick to warn everyone against pointing fingers at any party for the damage, including the contractor responsible for erecting the roof structure.
Fair enough. The minister said a committee has been formed to investigate the crash and come up with a report. It's not yet known whether the report will be made public, but I assume it will be, considering that public funds were used to build the stadium.
Press reports said the authorities had sent officers abroad on study tours to South Korea, Greece and the United Kingdom "to make sure that the stadium was on par, if not better, than the best stadiums in the world". In simple words, the plan was to make the Terengganu stadium a First World facility, regardless of whether world records could be broken or not.
The committee members comprised officers from the Public Works Department, Board of Engineers Malaysia, Institution of Engineers Malaysia, Malaysian Structural Steel Association, Board of Architects Malaysia, Institute of Structural Engineers Malaysia, National Audit Department, Attorney-General's Cham-bers and the Construction Industry Development Board.
I'm sure the national auditors and representatives from the AG's office would be interested to know how the project was given, constructed, monitored and approved. One question at the top of everyone's mind is this — was there any hanky-panky in the project, from every aspect?
Isn't Shaziman a US-trained civil engineer? I'm sure he knows his stuff and I bet you that he'll be asking for progress reports from the probe team sooner than later.
The crash, while shameful and costly, has also given the ministry an opportunity to drive home the message of accountability and transparency.
Contractors, and not just those undertaking projects using public funds, should conduct their business with utmost care, upholding professional ethics and adhering to established practices.
Don't the study tours abroad, mentioned earlier, mean that it was the project owners' desire to benchmark the stadium against the world's best?
Or was it just lip-service?
It's high time for the ministry to look thoroughly into the qualifications of project owners and undertakers.
We've heard voices alleging that contractors were also appointed consultants, and that some consultants were nothing more than a two-man team out to make a fast ringgit. Can such consultants be reliable? Since they were paid by the contractors, wouldn't their objectivity be compromised?
Friends sent me text messages expressing delight that US President Barack Obama mentioned Kuala Lumpur in his speech at the Cairo University on Thursday. In that speech, described as brilliant by many, Obama acknowledged the "astonishing progress within Muslim-majority countries from Kuala Lumpur to Dubai… Muslim communities have been at the forefront of innovation and education."
Obama mentioned KL only once in that speech, but it certainly caught the attention of TV viewers. Indeed, Obama's speech caught the imagination of many across the world, especially those hoping that there really will be a new beginning in the quest for a new age of peace. This will not be an easy assignment for anyone, including Obama whose rhetoric has yet to be translated into concrete actions.
The litmus test, really, is in finding an enduring solution to the unending atrocities in Palestine. Obama can have an extremely influential role in bringing zionist Israel to see reason and genuinely work for peace.
