Did Corruption Kill the Doctor?

During 2005, there were allegations of corruption in the construction industry and local government by a Deputy Minister and an experienced contractor.

The untimely death of Dr Liew is a grim reminder that the area around construction sites can be a killing field.

We should be very concerned that regulations are not stringent enough or have not been properly enforced by the authorities.

It looks that we need another public inquiry into how this company had been allowed to operate with such a bad safety record. It seems that the rules on stop work orders are not tight enough and companies are just prepared to pay compound fines until a few deaths occur.

Why do I mention corruption as the cause of this death? If a contractor has to pay bribes for speedy approval of land conversions, project approval and continued operation, the only way to recover costs and profits is to cut corners, inferior materials, unsafe practices and unqualified staff.

Looking at the safety inspections and stop work orders, there should be increased inspections on repeat offenders and escalated penalties.

For example:
Day 1: Stop work order for one week (compound fine)
Day 8: Pass inspection
Day 15: Inspection fail -stop order for 10 days (compound fine)
Day 25: Inspection fail – No compound, court case.(if three stop work orders within 30 days)

The recent Nicoll Highway accident shows what can be done to bring the culprits to book. Senior executives and directors were successfully persecuted and a few sentenced to jail.

I believe the Board of Engineers has the powers to bring the responsible engineers to book.
We also have the Safety Officer at large sites to ensure proper work methods.
Leaving such a slab in an "almost vertical position" near the edge of a building is asking for an accident to occur.It should have be placed in the most passive position if work was to be stopped - that is, lying flat on the floor.

Making public the safety ratings of contractors can hardly be a source of comfort when the public are subject to lethal danger.

photo:http://www.pensacolanewsjournal.com/news/guides/hurricane/galleries/gallery_ivan916-9/photo11.jpg