Architect fights off accusation over stadium collapse

Harakahdaily,

Mar 18: Rejecting accusations by some quarters that he was to blame for the collapse of the Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin stadium in Terengganu, a prominent architect from the state has said he was prepared to defend himself.

Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad said while he was involved in the design of the stadium, his job entailed only matters related to the concrete structure.

He said the design and construction of the roof was on the other hand undertaken by a Korean company.

"I have many times written to the (state) government requesting the identity of the Korean party involved in the design of the stadium's roof,” he told a session organised by PAS Muslimat in Kuala Terengganu.

The 50-000 seat stadium, built as part of the Terengganu Sports Complex in Gong Badak, was to be the biggest stadium in the East Coast region. In June 2009, a year after the stadium was officially opened, its roof construction collapsed in an incident which was later blamed on design fault and inappropriate materials.

More recently last month, the ill-fated stadium saw another collapse while undergoing re-construction work, injuring five workers.

Raja Bahrin (left), widely tipped to stand in Kuala Terengganu as a PAS candidate in the coming polls, meanwhile showed letters from the Malaysian Institute of Architects and Board of Architects Malaysia absolving him of any fault in the collapse.

He also revealed that his team had sensed something not right with the construction of the roof, but there was no action following complaints.

He further added that the second collapse last month was because the same Korean company, which the authorities have yet to reveal its name, was not tasked with repair works.

"The Korean company should have been the one to dismantle the roof as it was behind its construction," said Raja Bahrin.

Source harakahdaily