Anti-graft agency probes contractors over court building flaws

The Straits Times, May 26, 2007

Recently opened complex plagued by leaks, blackouts and breakdowns

KUALA LUMPUR - THE Anti-Corruption Agency (ACA) is now eyeing the contractor and plumber of the defect-ridden new court complex in Jalan Duta here, the New Straits Times (NST) reported yesterday.

In the past month, the RM20 million (S$8.9 million) court complex has had gaping cracks, blackouts and air-conditioning breakdowns that forced at least one irate judge to adjourn a hearing.

The last straw came last Tuesday, when a burst water pipe flooded the court's cafeteria and two lock-ups.

Security guards tried, but failed, to bar reporters from taking photographs of the ankle-deep water.

The ACA immediately opened a file on the contractor, building company Jowahaki.

The NST tried to contact Jowahaki managing director Johari Mat, but he was apparently abroad at the time. The paper also could not reach deputy managing director Abdullah Che Mat.

A senior ACA officer told the NST that officers from his department visited Jowahaki's office in Shah Alam on Thursday, where they examined building plans and specifications.

That same day, the ACA also dispatched a forensic unit to the complex to study the defects and all the other problems plaguing the building.

It is understood that the ACA will home in on whether the contractor and plumber violated building procedures and if the building materials they used conformed to specifications.

Last Tuesday, Public Works Department director-general Judin Abdul Karim said the burst pipe in the cafeteria had been caused by a sub-standard cap.

He had said: 'The leak happened because the cap gave way. The cap used was PVC, and this was not according to specifications.'

When contacted about the investigation, ACA director-general Ahmad Said Hamdan told NST he would be briefed soon on the incident.

The court complex's incessant woes are matched only by the Malaysian Parliament's leaky concrete roof, which is badly worn out and in need of waterproofing and heat-proofing.

Last Monday, Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi took Works Minister Samy S. Vellu to task for not including the leaky roof in the Parliament House's RM90 million renovation project in 2005.

By late last month, the Prime Minister had already ordered Datuk Seri Samy Vellu to check all government buildings for defects following incidents of roof collapses and extensive flooding from burst water pipes in three new government buildings.

Datuk Seri Samy Vellu admitted that Parliament's roof leaks were severe and the roof needed to be torn down and rebuilt, but he said the structure had not been in a bad state in 2005.

He said that roof maintenance was the responsibility of Parliament's technical crew.

As for checks for defects on government buildings, he has since asked Parliament for RM22 million to do so.

A special committee led by the Auditor-General has also been set up to carry out the checks.