Digest on Malaysian News

Kepong Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) is breaking Malaysia Books of Record for the most number of damages. The third crack is costing the rakyat RM70 million. Barely two years after the 2nd repair, the RM70 million turning into debris.

Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is very bold when he pointed out that the previous repair was not done properly. He is blaming the repairing parties. He is not blaming who design and construct the structure in the first place.

And as usual, Najib is trying not to shoot anyone foot and diplomatically said the investigation would identify the cause of the cracks and the parties responsible for it. See, he did not mentioned which parties.

This is the third time the 1.7km MRR2 Kepong flyover has been closed because of cracks. The first was in August 2004 followed by another in February 2006 for repairs.

Malaysia Boleh cracks anytime !





Extracted from TheStar

PM disappointed over MRR2 damage

By MAZWIN NIK ANIS

PUTRAJAYA: Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi is disappointed that damage has re-appeared on the Middle Ring Road II (MRR2 despite the Government having spent RM70mil just two years ago to rectify a similar problem.

The Prime Minister said this could have been avoided if parties responsible had ensured earlier repair works were done accordingly and properly so that damage does not occur again in such a short span of time.

"When I read the newspaper headlines on my way here, I knew the public would not be happy. In fact, some will be pretty angry knowing that there is damage at the MRR2, even after spending a huge amount of money to repair it earlier.

"This could have been easily avoided if those responsible had ensured that earlier repair works were done properly. If this had been done, there would be no damage and the rakyat would not be fuming," he told staff of the Prime Minister's Department Monday at its monthly gathering.

What was more worrying, the Prime Minister said, was if accidents, catastrophe or even deaths were to occur if the damage on the MMR2 caused the road to collapse.

Three panels of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) fell from Pillar 28 of the highway on Sunday morning, but the Works Ministry said the MRR2 is structurally safe despite a scare that saw a temporary closure of a ramp.

The six-lane elevated section of the highway has been reduced to four lanes near the Kompleks Desa for the next three weeks as a safety precaution pending an investigation.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohd said an investigation would be carried out on the incident, which came two years after RM70mil was spent to repair cracks that appeared on 31 of the 33 pillars. The highway was re-opened in 2006.

Abdullah also reminded civil servants of the importance of providing good administrative and management services, saying that since the people were directly affected by services provided by civil servants, they would either be happy or "terribly angry" with the way the Government was run.

"We can avoid the people's wrath by ensuring that we serve with a positive attitude and with efficiency. We should not do things that would anger the people and make them perceive that civil servants are a corrupted lot.

"Good traits are needed to avoid accusations and it is easy to accuse anyone nowadays, especially when there is the Internet and there is no limit to what you can do with it. I am not saying that all those who blog and uses the Internet are not good.

"There are responsible users but there are also those who say the most preposterous things. If we want to avoid this, we have to make sure we do things accordingly and efficiently," he said, adding that rumour-mongering should also be stopped as it could lead to uncertainty and unrest.

Related news:
* MalaysiaKini: PM: MRR2 cracks could have been avoided if...

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Scare and jam on MRR2 as debris from pillar falls on cars

By LOONG MENG YEE and LESTER KONG

KUALA LUMPUR: The Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) is structurally safe, despite a scare that saw a temporary closure of a ramp, leading to massive jams.

Works Minister Datuk Mohd Zin Mohd gave this assurance following a scare when three panels of carbon fibre reinforced plastic (CFRP) fell from Pillar 28 of the highway yesterday morning.

Motorists were shocked when the panels fell from the pillar at 7.25am causing a 3km congestion that lasted for several hours. The ramp was temporarily closed.

However, the six-lane elevated section of highway will be reduced to four lanes near the Kompleks Desa for the next three weeks as a safety precaution pending an investigation.

Mohd Zin said an investigation would be carried out on the incident which came two years after RM70mil was spent to repair cracks that appeared on 31 of the 33 pillars. The highway was re-opened in 2006.

Pillar 28 was one of the affected beams then.

Mohd Zin said those responsible for the shoddy work and negligence would have to bear the cost of repairs.

“The Government will not bear any cost because the repair is still under warranty until the end of the year,” he said.

It is learnt that the German consultants responsible for the repairs on the 31 pillars had been told to fly in and fix the problem.

Mohd Zin said each pillar was toughened with 18 panels of CFRP that was meant to take the stress from passing vehicles.

However, the pillar is within international standards that stipulate that only 12 panels are needed for concrete support.

“Even without the three damaged strips, we still have 15 more panels to support Pillar 28,” said Mohd Zin when he visited the site yesterday.

For safety reasons, he said only four of the six lanes on the highway would be opened for the next three weeks.

Asked what might have caused the damage, Mohd Zin said tensile stress on the highway might have been too much for the CFRP to bear. He said the other pillars would also be checked.

Asked why the concrete on Pillar 28 fell after repairs were made, Mohd Zin said he would reveal the reasons after investigations were completed.

“We also want to know what happened. When investigations are completed and if we find that defects are caused by negligence on the part of the suppliers or contractors, we will hold them responsible,” he said.

Asked if Anti-Corruption Agency should investigate the matter, he said: “One step at a time, let’s find out what happened first.”

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Caught in a surprise traffic jam MRR2 spoils Sunday mood

KUALA LUMPUR: Motorists expecting a smooth Sunday drive were caught in a massive jam after pieces of concrete fibre fell from Pillar 28 of the Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) and part of the road was closed.

Traffic was reduced to a crawl at about 7.30am when several chunks of the concrete fell from the pillar near Desa Complex onto the road heading towards Batu Caves.

The jam stretched over 3km to the Bandar Sri Damansara toll plaza after the three-lane road was reduced to one.

It started to ease at about 5pm after all lanes were re-opened.

Traffic on the other side was also reduced to a crawl as motorists slowed down to see what was happening.

Workers used a crane to peel away the remaining dangling pieces of concrete and conduct inspection works.

They wrapped the damaged part of the pillar to prevent more pieces of carbon fibre concrete from falling.

The incident sparked fears among motorists as Pillar 28 was one of the 31 pillars found with cracks in 2004.

RapidKL traffic controller Zainuddin Md Taib, 37, was among those who saw the debris falling down after he reported for duty at the bus station next to the pillar.

“When I first saw it, there was only a little bit coming out. At 7.25am, several chunks of concrete fell on two passing vehicles,” he said, adding he called the police who arrived minutes later to direct traffic.

A frustrated motorist, identified as Aishah, 27, who was on her way to Genting Highlands from Tanjung Karang, said she was stuck in the jam for two hours at about noon.

She said the authorities should have made announcements immediately to alert motorists of the incident.

Many motorists came out of their vehicles to find out what had caused the jam.

Kepong MP Dr Tan Seng Giaw, who was at the scene at 11am, said he was concerned about the safety of motorists and wanted repair works done fast.

He said there must be answers from the Works Ministry because there had been guarantees of safety after repairs were made and the highway re-opened in August 2006.

City deputy traffic chief Deputy Supt Ng Fook Long said police would continue manning the traffic flow today.

“Although several lanes had been re-opened, we are still finding ways to further ease the traffic,” he said.

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Government to probe cracks on highway pillars

PEKAN: Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government would conduct an in-depth investigation on the cracks on the Middle Ring Road II (MRR2) flyover.

He said the Works Ministry would conduct the investigation and prepare a detailed report for tabling in the Cabinet.

“Usually, we will discuss issues like this in the Cabinet,” he told reporters after giving away prizes at the end of GP Joran Carnival in Kuala Pahang here yesterday.

Najib said the investigation would identify the cause of the cracks and the parties responsible for it.

This is the third time the 1.7km MRR2 Kepong flyover has been closed because of cracks. The first was in August 2004 followed by another in February 2006 for repairs. – Bernama



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