Updated 7.37pm, 31 May 2009
PETALING JAYA, 31 May 2009: Eleven of 12 families living in double-storey houses along Jalan 14/15 behind the collapsed Jaya Supermarket building here have moved out as instructed for fear over the unsteady building structure still standing.
Petaling Jaya police chief ACP Arjunaidi Mohamed said today the 11 families had been put up at two nearby hotels.
“One family has refused to move as per the instruction given yesterday,” he said when contacted.
He said the families would remain at their temporary accommodation until a report had been completed on the safety of the building structure still standing.
Arjunaidi said several police and personnel from the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) had been deployed at Jalan 14/15 to prevent any break-in at the vacated houses.
A check by Bernama found that the area had been cordoned off with security tape and was guarded by several police and MBPJ personnel. Residents entering the area had to obtain a pass at the MBPJ kiosk there.
It is learnt that the evacuated families had been put up at the Armada Hotel and the Crown Plaza Hotel, with the cost borne fully by the developer and contractor.
A manager, Sharon Wong Fook Thai, 36, said her family had decided to move out as the remainder of the building was in danger of collapsing.
“Our house is very close to the building. We heed the vacate order for our own safety,” she told reporters here today.
Another resident, Phua Kian Huat, 47, said the demolition operations were very noisy and his family was under constant fear of the building come crashing down.
Ten of the houses had been vacated yesterday with one more today.
The residents were given the vacate order yesterday by Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Roslan Sakiman as the Public Works Institute of Malaysia (Ikram) had warned that the houses were unsafe as the building could crumble down at any moment.
The residents are being given RM150 per house per day by the contractor until the demolition operations are completed.
Meanwhile, Counsellor (Information and Public Relations) Widyarka Ryananta of the Indonesian Embassy in Kuala Lumpur said a post-mortem would be conducted tomorrow on the bodies of the seven Indonesian workers recovered from the site of the collapsed building.
He said he was informed of the matter by the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC). A UMMC spokesperson confirmed this.
Three of the seven bodies have been identified as those of Muhd Maskur, 31, Anwaruddin, 38, and Hadi, 30, from documents found on them as well as with the help of relatives and friends, Widyarka said.
“DNA tests will be conducted on the body parts recovered from the site and all the bodies will be sent back to Indonesia after the police had completed their reports,” he told Bernama when contacted.
Widyarka said a number of the dead workers were from East Java and that their families had been informed.
He said the Indonesian ambassador would have a discussion tomorrow with the developer and contractor at the Indonesian Embassy.
Seven Indonesian construction workers were killed in the 28 May collapse of the vacated structure that had been earmarked for demolition. The body of the seventh and last worker was recovered at 4pm yesterday. — Bernama
Dee Dee says
Khalid Ibrahim et al. Now your (no so) Big Day Out@Penanti’s finished. Tell us what incompetence led to this screw up. I’d rather my tax RM be used for this instead of ceramahs and celebrations. Engineering disasters aren’t as glamorous (particularly if those killed are only foreigners), but please indulge this humble request. After this has been addressed, then you can continue celebrating.