KUALA LUMPUR: Some 60 supervisors will monitor the building of the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project following an accident that claimed three lives at one of its sites.

Gamuda Bhd group managing director Datuk Lin Yun Ling said the supervisors would complement the 300 consultants on the construction of the project by some 12,000 people.

“Their focus is not just on safety. Their responsibilities will include the quality of the work done so they also focus on quality assurance and quality control,” he told reporters at a Pemandu office here yesterday.

Lin said the supervisors would come from the MRT’s project delivery partner or lead developer MMC-Gamuda.

 

He added that MMC-Gamuda would also extend its zero-tolerance policy to the entire project. The policy had earlier been implemented at its high-risk areas from Persiaran Surian to Semantan.

Three Bangladeshi construction workers were crushed to death when a 690-tonne concrete span fell on them on Aug 18 near a former Rubber Research Institute land area.

Six days later, several concrete segments fell off a trailer in Cheras, causing a traffic jam there.

Lin said there were three problems that plagued the construction industry and that they extended to the MRT project.

These were contractors only following safety procedures when being monitored, not taking ownership of such practices and not having enough people trained in this area.

“We do not wish to name any names today. The ones who are not so good, their attitude is almost like playing a cat-and-mouse game with them,” he said.

Lin said a report by the Department of Occupational Safety and Health on the fatal accident was expected to be out either by the end of next week or the week after that.

Pemandu chief executive Datuk Seri Idris Jala said that a zero-tolerance policy had been with the project since its beginning, though complying with that was another matter.

“That’s the key, the effectiveness of this compliance,” he said.

He said MRT’s completion was on track and that the Government was committed to keeping the project within budget.

On action against those responsible for the accident, Jala said it would depend on the report.