theSun | THURSDAY JUNE 4 2009 3

news without borders

DPM wants rules on selection briefs

of contractors reviewed
by Giam Say Khoon
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
KUALA LUMPUR: The cabinet
has instructed Works Minister
Datuk Shaziman Mansor to
review the rules of selection of
contractors in the wake of the col-
lapse of the Gong Badak stadium
in Terengganu.
Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri
Muhyiddin Yassin, who chaired
the cabinet meeting yesterday,
said the government viewed
the incident seriously because
it should not have happened as
the stadium was only completed
about a year ago.
“The state government has set
up an investigation team to probe
the incident and at the federal
level, the ministry will review the
rules of selection of contractors
and consultants,” he said.
In the 9.30am incident on Tues-
day, 60% of the roof at the stadium
that was built at a cost of RM270
million and opened on May 10 current economic situation.
last year, collapsed including the He said both stimulus packages
part covering the royal box in the are on stream as the ministries
grand stand. had been directed to utilise the
Muhyiddin said although the funds.
government wanted to ensure that “We believe the quantum that
everyone would have opportuni- has been set aside will be suffi-
ties for government projects, the cient for the moment and we are
need for quality and professional- not thinking of a third stimulus
ism cannot be compromised. package,” he said.
Asked if the incident involved On whether the government
corruption, he said that he was is planning to liberalise more
unable to comment and did not sectors to attract foreign direct
know whether the Malaysian investments, Muhyiddin said
Anti-Corruption Commission Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib
would be involved in the inves- Abdul Razak, who is also finance
tigation. minister, will make an announce-
He said this to the media after ment on this issue in the next few
officiating the 6th World Cham- weeks.
bers Congress and SMIDEX 2009 On the limiting of Sijil Pen-
yesterday. didikan Malaysia (SPM) subjects
On another matter, Muhyid- to 10, Muhyiddin, who is also edu-
din said the government will not cation minister, said although the
launch another stimulus package government had decided to limit
at the moment as the two previ- the subjects that can be taken by
ous packages amounting to RM67 students, it is still open to sugges-
billion are sufficient to handle the tions and opinions.
COUNCIL ORDERS THIRD STOP-WORK
He said the decision will help
to ease the shortage of teachers
and ease parents’ financial burden
as not all additional subjects are
taught in schools which means
that parents have to spend on ad-
ditional tuition classes for these
subjects.
As for students of religious
schools who are taking science
subjects, Muhyiddin said the min-
istry’s director-general has been
directed to look into the matter
and find a solution.
On Universiti Sains Malaysia’s
(USM) technical glitches that
caused more than 3,000 eligible
students to be turned away,
Muhyiddin said the cabinet had
received a report from the Higher
Education Ministry and accepted
the university’s explanation of the
error.
He said the University Central
Unit (UPU) will notify the quali-
fied students and also those who
are not.
Defects in stadium roof
discovered before Sukma
KUALA TERENGGANU: Defects in the construc-
tion of the Gong Badak stadium roof were dis-
covered before the opening of the 12th Malaysia
Games (Sukma) in May last year, Terengganu
Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said said.
He said commandos dared not scale down
the roof as it shook when they tried to tie ropes
to it. “They abandoned the idea during training.
Instead they were lowered from a helicopter for
the Sukma’s opening show on May 10,” Ahmad
said after chairing a state executive council
meeting here yesterday.
He said the supporting structure could not
hold the roof, which was longer and wider.
Ahmad said he had noticed the roof was
uneven prior to the opening and had notified
the Public Works Department.
“The PWD promised to rectify it after Sukma,”
he said, adding that he had again voiced his
concern to Terengganu PWD deputy director
Ghazali Hashim three weeks ago.
Ahmad said Ghazali had assured him in a
letter two weeks ago that a contractor would
sort out the problem.
Terengganu Sports Complex manager Khairol
Azmi said personnel of a South Korean construc-
tion maintenance company had inspected the
roof shortly before it collapsed.
Ghazali, who accompanied Youth and Sports

MBPJ vs PWD
by Tan Yi Liang
newsdesk@thesundaily.com
PETALING JAYA: The Petaling Jaya
Municipal Council (MBPJ) has issued a
third stop-work order on a federal project
in Bandar Seri Damansara which was
not approved, said councillor Chan Chee
Kong.
“We met with the Public Works
Department (PWD) representatives,
and we issued a stop-work order for a
Penyayang Bakti project in Bandar Seri
Damansara. We told them to apply for
planning approval and they should stop
work immediately,” Chan told the media
after the meeting yesterday.
The project involves the construction
of a cluster of low-rise buildings for
the Women, Family and Community
Development Ministry’s one-stop centre
to provide integrated welfare services to
the less-fortunate, such as children, the
elderly and single mothers.
Chan said the MBPJ had issued stop-
work orders previously, but development
on the site still continued.
“In March, we issued a stop-work or-
der. At the beginning of May, we issued
another stop-work order and yesterday
the third was issued, and they were told
they would be fined if they do not stop,”
said Chan.
He said residents had complained
about the building works.
“PWD has been carrying out the
building works during Sundays and holi-
days since the beginning of the year, and
the residents have been complaining for
some time. PWD has already done the
earthworks without approval and now
they are trying to build structures,” he
said.
ORDER ON ‘ILLEGAL’
ONE-STOP WELFARE CENTRE
“Our official went on Sunday to ask
them not to work, and they said they do
not need permission from us,” he said.
He said while MBPJ was not opposed
to federal development, procedures have
to be followed.
“Local councils play a very important
role because if you do not apply for plan-
ning approval, we do not know what you
are going to build. They have already
cleared the hill, and if the residents ask
us what is going to be built, we don’t
know,” he said.
Chan said a meeting will be held with
the residents and PWD representatives
at the MBPJ office at 9am on Saturday.
MBPJ councillor Mak Khuin Weng
said PWD could face a fine as high as
RM25,000 if they defied the stop-work
order. He declined to give details of the
planned development, saying only that
the developer was trying to build about a
dozen blocks of three to five storeys.
“We don’t have the plans, so we can-
not comment on the buildings per se,”
he said.
Minister Datuk Ahmad Shabery Cheek on an
inspection of the stadium, said the department
had not issued a certificate of completion for the
roof. – Bernama
Niosh wants inquiry into
roof collapse
KUALA LUMPUR: The National Institute for
Occupational Safety and Health yesterday
urged the government to set up a commis-
sion of inquiry to investigate the collapse of a
section of the roof of the Sultan Mizan Zainal
Abidin Stadium in Gong Badak, Terengganu.
Its chairman, Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, said
the incident was too serious to require an
ordinary investigation and had affected pub-
lic confidence in the construction industry.
“It warrants a full-scale, independent
investigation. A panel under the Commission
of Inquiry Act is needed to get to the bottom
of the tragic and scandalous event,” he said
when contacted.
Lee said the commission could identify
who was liable for prosecution.
Paddy sniffs out
pirated DVD cache
KUALA LUMPUR: DVD-sniffing anti-piracy dog
Paddy has uncovered a huge cache of 35,000
illegal discs from six warehouses, many destined
for export to Singapore, industry officials said
yesterday.
The black labrador helped enforcement
officials in raids in Johor last week, the Motion
Work Picture Association (MPA) said in a statement.
continues ... Paddy was given to Malaysia by the MPA to
a cement- help close down piracy syndicates who churn
mixer out vast quantities of illegal DVDs. The dog is
truck is specially trained to detect chemicals in the
seen at the discs.
construction “Investigations revealed that two of the tar-
site in gets were actively involved in exporting pirated
Bandar Seri DVDs to Singapore,” the MPA said. The raids shut
Damansara. down six warehouses storing pirated products.
– AFP
Red Bull sold here
not from Austria
PUTRAJAYA: The Health Ministry said yester-
day Red Bull energy drinks sold in Malaysia

Sixteen flu cases in past 24 hours
PUTRAJAYA: A total of 16 cases with
symptoms of influenza infection were
registered in the country until midnight
Tuesday.
Health director-general Tan Sri Dr
Mohd Ismail Merican said all the cases
were admitted into isolation wards in six
hospitals for treatment and observation.
“Of the total, 15 were confirmed
negative with influenza A (H1N1) while
the other was awaiting the result of the
laboratory test,” he said in a statement.
On the “home quarantine” cases,
Mohd Ismail said four contacts were still
in quarantine and that all of them were
healthy and had no sign of being infected
with A (H1N1).
Until now, the number of accumu-
lated cases with symptoms of influenza
infection totalled 387, of which 384 were
confirmed negative, two confirmed
positive while the other is waiting for the
result of the laboratory test.
He said screening of travellers at the
53 entry points into the country was still
being carried out.
A report by the World Health Organi-
sation (WHO) yesterday stated that there
were so far 17,702 confirmed influenza
A (HINI) cases, including 115 deaths, in
63 countries.
The report also stated there were
120 new cases, comprising 100 cases
in Australia, China (12), Hongkong (3),
Taiwan (2), Japan (6), New Zealand (1)
and Singapore (1).
Mohd Ismail advised the public to
continue to take precautionary meas-
ures by ensuring their cleanliness and
hygiene, despite Malaysia having been
declared free from local transmission of
the H1N1 virus. – Bernama
are imported from Thailand and packaged
in cans or bottles in the country, and not
brought in from Austria.
It’s Food Quality and Safety Division
director Nooraini Mohd Othman said Ma-
laysia did not import Red Bull and Red Bull
Cola drinks from Austria which have been
banned in countries like Germany, Taiwan
and Hongkong after minute quantities of
cocaine were detected in them.
“The ministry has stopped imports of
Red Bull products from Austria since 2001,
after their caffeine content did not meet
the standards stipulated in the Food Act
1983 and Food Regulations 1985,” she said.
– Bernama