19 April 2019

PIL 1 flaw oversight by DoE & Penang state govt but spotted by layman Khoo Salma

Costing a whopping RM7.5bil, the 19.5km Pan Island Link (PIL) 1 highway was met with a hitch when Penang Forum member Khoo Salma Nasution noticed major flaws in its design, where the drawings showed multiple berms exceeding the maximum amount of 6 allowed for each cut slope under Public Works Department (PWD) regulations, where one had up to 26 berms.

In the drawings meant for approval by the Department of Environment (DOE) for the necessary Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), one would expect the drawings to have been meticulously checked multiple times and revised to prevent flaws or inaccuracies. However, these measures such a colossal project somehow eluded the eyes and scrutiny of both the PIL 1 designers, engineers, architects, draughtsman and DOE regulating experts and strangely, received approval anyway.

If Khoo had not noticed the design flaw, the project’s outcome could have taken a really bad turn. Thus, why is Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow just dismissing this faux pas as a simple oversight by the artists and even blaming it on the design software?

Besides that, in the case where DOE actually decided to approve the drawing despite seeing its flaws, which is in accordance to the Penang CM’s claim that the drawings are just preliminary and hence they are not the actual design, DOE’s professionalism is put into doubt. Were the approving officers under pressure to give the green light, or were they complacent and lackadaisical?

The bloopers in the PIL1 drawings remind us of the Tanjung Bungah landslide in 2017 which claimed the lives of 11 workers. If mistakes in design are translated practically into actual construction works, hill clearings and land reclamations for the three man-made islands, who will shoulder the responsibility for any catastrophe, say, some 20 years in the future. Any environmental mishaps for such a large-scale project would certainly be traced back to DOE which held the deciding voice.

Hence, Ex-Penang CM Lim Guan Eng’s successor Chow should execute professionalism and admit that there is a bigger issue internally which necessitates remedial action towards the persons in charge and changes to the stringency of the drawing and approval process. If all else fails, Chow should consider involving private regulators to check and ensure that such blunders do not recur.

Datuk Tan Teik Cheng
MCA Vice President

-MCA online-