Firms involved in Jaya supermart redevelopment blacklisted

PETALING JAYA, 5 June 2009: The Selangor government has blacklisted the owner and firms involved in the redevelopment of the recently-collapsed building in Section 14 that used to house Jaya supermarket.

According to a statement today from the menteri besar’s office, the state government will also direct all local councils to check if the blacklisted firms are involved in any other development projects in Selangor.

“If (these firms) are involved in other projects, the relevant local council will have to reassess and closely monitor (these projects) to ensure the safety measures are met,” Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim said.

The companies which have been blacklisted are:

1. Jaya Section Fourteen Sdn Bhd, the site’s owner and developer;

2. DP Architects Sdn Bhd, the firm who submitted the project’s plans;

3. Meinhardht (M) Sdn Bhd, the engineer;

4. Pembinaan CW Yap Sdn Bhd, the contractor;

5. Jurutera Perunding Sdn Bhd, the contract engineer; and

6. DLS management, the project manager.

The Jaya supermarket building collapse, on 28 May 2009, killed seven Indonesian construction workers. The Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) and the Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) have started investigations into the collapse.

According to today’s statement, MBPJ has not received any explanation or report from the six firms in charge of Jaya supermarket’s re-development. These firms also failed to submit any application to MBPJ to safely demolish the remaining structure.

According to Ikram, the remaining Jaya supermarket structure is threatening the safety of nearby residences some of whom have been evacuated.

Khalid, who chaired the Selangor Economic Action Council meeting on the matter this morning, was briefed on the investigation’s preliminary findings.

A stop-work order on the demolition of the building, issued on 29 May, will be extended to allow investigations to continue.