Negligence in overpass deaths falls under RI law
Negligence in overpass deaths falls under RI law
JAKARTA (JP): Any proof of negligence behind the collapse of the overpass in Grogol which killed three workers and injured 18 others on Friday, will be dealt with under Indonesian law, a high ranking official said.
Public works contracts between the government and contractors do not have a clause about negligence or the possibility of death, Ruslan Diwiryo, the secretary-general of the Ministry of Public Works said yesterday.
However "the contracting parties are subject to Indonesian law", including in cases of negligence, Ruslan told The Jakarta Post.
The contractors of the overpass are South Korean Hanbo General Contractor and Indonesian PT Bumi Karsa.
"The contract states the contractor must ensure the safety of workers, and that it must provide insurance," Ruslan said.
He also told a press conference that violations of work procedures based on international construction standards "mostly prove fatal."
Minister Radinal Moochtar said Friday that early findings revealed a violation of work procedures: the premature removal of bracing around the stagers before the concrete was hard enough.
Ruslan pointed out that blame for the accident would not be shouldered by the contractors alone.
The important task of the team formed under the ministry Saturday to investigate the cause of the accident, Ruslan said, is to determine "whether all strategic procedures to be taken were conducted under the notice of all three parties involved in the project".
These parties are the supervising company appointed to represent the government, the Japanese PCI & Yec, the contractors' own supervisor and the contractor itself.
"There must be good coordination between all three parties," Ruslan said.
He added that detailed guidelines of "strategic procedures" need not all be on paper.
A step like the premature removal of bracings is "too stupid and beyond common sense," he said. "But from this experience I personally think that details may have to be included (on paper)," he added.
Ruslan said he could not mention the team's deadline, only saying the ministry hopes for quick results. The team is headed by the ministry's Inspector General, E.L.M. Malonda.
As of yesterday, local police have not arrested anybody in relation to the incident.
"Nobody has been arrested as we haven't yet collected enough evidence. We do not yet known who asked workers to remove the concrete bracings," said Jakarta Police Spokesman Lt. Col. Iman Haryatna.
According to Iman, at least two personnel from the project constructor, one local and one Korean, have been questioned by detectives.
"We'll interrogate the project chief officers soon after we have enough data and information from related sources," he said.
Officer Col. Erwin M.P. from the National Police Forensics Laboratory said yesterday that his team is still studying the project's technical data.
If found guilty, Iman said, the responsible officer of the project might face a maximum imprisonment term of five years.
Meanwhile, a worker at another tollroad project in Pluit, North Jakarta, was reportedly dead when he fell down from the stagers. Eyewitnesses said that Tomo, 17, was busy with concrete molding when he fell down. (anr/bsr)