Post of building surveyor needed
THE recent landslide at the Jalan Bukit Kukus worksite in Paya Terubong, Penang, and similar events in other parts of the country prompted me to write this open letter to Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad:
Prior to 1975, the erstwhile George Town City Council had the post of city architect & building surveyor who, as head of the Town Planning & Building Department, was the superior to several architects and a town planner.
With the advent of the Town and Country Planning Act, 1976, the George Town City Council became the Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan and the Town Planning & Building Department was replaced by a Building Department, while its sole town planner was promoted to senior town planning officer.
The Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan, meanwhile, was headed by an officer administrating council – at that time, Penang Chief Minister Dr Lim Chong Eu.
The contributions of a visionary chief minister invigorated Penang’s town and country planning, and helped spawn an urban renewal project (with Komtar as its crown jewel) as well as a Comprehensive Development Area in George Town, while the padi fields of Bayan Lepas became the venue of two industrial estates and a satellite town, Bandar Bayan Baru.
However, it appears that redesignating the post of city architect & building surveyor as building department director and, later, replacing George Town City Council’s building bylaws with the Town and Country Planning Act and the Uniform Building Bylaws, 1984, had the (probably unintended) effect of “emasculating” local authorities.
The dedication of various city architect & building surveyors since colonial days is legendary but their powers were unfortunately curtailed by the changing laws.
My senior colleagues in the Lembaga Pengurusan Kerajaan Tempatan (sharing your vintage, Dr M) related two anecdotes of irate law breakers pouring nightsoil on the cars of devoted building surveyors who refused to turn a blind eye to breaches of council bylaws.
George Town’s last city architect & building surveyor was reputed to have refused to append his signature to the development order of Komtar because of the lack of landings in the fire escapes in the building plans submitted, and the municipal president had to sign the order instead. Whether this is myth or fact only the other still surviving department heads can tell.
A George Town Council civil engineer (now in his 80s and still in private practice) was famous for carrying out inspections in the wee hours of the morning to ensure that the roadworks contractor did not shortchange his employer and the public. That’s the reason why the stretch of Gurney Drive at the distal end of George Town remained in very good condition for many years.
Alas, the days of Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang saw the calibre of some senior officers deteriorate, in my opinion.
Tun, post GE14, you advised senior civil servants to stand their ground in the face of inappropriate instructions from politicians. Here’s the opportunity to put into action your pearls of wisdom and more.
Local authorities in their role as planning authorities are required by law to submit environmental impact assessments to the Department of Environment. However, there appears to be no role for the Department of Occupational Safety and Health (DOSH) until a worksite accident occurs. I respectfully suggest that DOSH check out workers’ quarters if they are provided within the worksite itself or on its periphery.
I believe the recent scenario necessitates reinstating the post of building surveyor (but placed under the Ministry of Energy, Science, Technology, Environment and Climate Change, or Mestecc) to check on developments in critical areas such as hillslopes and land reclamation projects.
Both types of development can easily upset the fragile balance of the environment, and mega projects (some of which are worked on 24 hours a day) generate a lot of noise, dust and teh tarik-coloured discharge into ditches, streams and the sea when it rains.
The proposed Mestecc building surveyor should visit these sites, first daily, then three times a week, and then weekly until the physical completion of the projects, and report on compliance by contractors with conditions attached to development orders and work permits.
Above all, the building surveyor should be empowered by Mestecc to issue stop-work orders if there are safety breaches or any indication of potential danger posed by the environment reacting to any unsafe work procedures.
Dr M, I appeal to your calling as a doctor to consider the sanctity of human life and reinstate the post of building surveyor. Your expeditious action will certainly be conducive to saving lives and more comforting than overt expressions of sympathy dispensed after a calamity has taken place.
Moreover, hefty fines should be imposed not only on contractors and developers for non-compliance with conditions attached to development orders but also on errant local/state authorities for breach of custodial duties. These fines could form a new revenue stream for federal coffers.