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Media Statement        
by Lim Kit Siang  
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(Parliament, Wednesday) : I have sent an urgent fax to the Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu for on-the-spot safety assurance and demonstration that the RM1.9 billion SMART Tunnel is safe for use by the public not only on Monday, when it will start operation, but for the next few decades. 

This has become even more urgent with more instances of government building and construction defects, with Parliament again leaking in some six places in the foyer outside the media centre this morning after heavy rain – a repeat of the disgraceful incident in April 2005 when Parliament had to be adjourned summarily because rainwater was pouring into the Dewan Rakyat Chamber as a result a ceiling collapse in a RM100 million Parliament renovation contract. 

With the recent unending series of mishaps in public buildings and construction projects, like the landslide in Putrajaya in March which should not have happened, the defects at the Immigration Headquarters and Entrepreneur and Co-operative Development Ministry buildings both in Putrajaya, the unfolding mishaps with every other day at the RM290 million largest court complex in Jalan Duta, and now the return of leaks in Parliament building, Malaysian confidence in the safety of public buildings and construction projects have reached a new low. 

In this connection, was a certificate for fitness for occupation  (CF) issued for the largest court complex in the world, and if so when.  If no CF was issued, why was the court complex allowed to be used; and if there was CF, whether actions would be taken against those who had been so negligent as to issue the CF when there are still so many defects, including structural ones, which had to be rectified? 

In the case of the RM1.9 billion SMART Tunnel, no margin of mishap could be allowed to happen, as life and limb would be at stake – unlike falling ceilings, leaking buildings and burst pipes which have so far luckily avoided fatalities or human injuries. 

For these reasons, DAP MPs would want clear assurances from Samy Vellu that the SMART Tunnel would be absolutely safe when it is open for operation on Monday. Bearing in mind the unbelievable MRR2 flyover breakdown, Samy Vellu should tell Malaysians for how many decades is the SMART Tunnel safe for use by the public.

(9/5/2007)