Penang CM apologises to condo residents affected by flying debris damage from highway project blasting work

Source: Malay Mail
Author: Opalyn Mok

GEORGE TOWN, April 18 -- Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow today apologised to condominium residents who were affected by blasting work conducted for a highway project at Bukit Hijau here.

The Penang lawmaker said the damage at the adjacent Jay Series condominium caused by blasting work should not have happened at all.

"They have conducted blasting work 600 times. Even though this is one time out of 600, I am not saying it is lucky; it should not happen even once.

"So I hope the project director will take the necessary steps to prevent this from happening again," he said during a press conference at his office after announcing the Penang Hill Festival 2024.

Yesterday, at 11am, controlled blasting work was carried out at the highway construction site that is a mere 70m from the Jay Series condominium.

The blast sent debris and soil flying towards the condominium area, damaging three cars, a swimming pool and an awning at the rest area for condominium residents.

In an immediate response, project contractor Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd (CZC) sent 20 workers to help with the clean-up at the condominium.

This morning, project director Penang Infrastructure Corporation (PIC) issued a statement to explain the cause of the incident.

In it, PIC chief executive officer Datuk Seri Farizan Darus said the controlled blasting work was conducted in accordance with standardised procedures.

He said blasting work to break down boulders along the project site started in January 2022.

"There will be another 200 blasting work to be conducted to clear up the remaining boulders," he said.

As per the statement issued this morning, he said the contractor will be implementing extra safety measures to prevent another incident from occurring during future blasting work.

He said they will be reducing the depth of the drill and the weight of the explosive to control the impact of the blast.

He said the layer of ground cover, wire mesh, geotextile and sandbags will also be expanded to cover a larger area.

Finally, he said the soil load on the top and sides along with steel plates and kentledge blocks will be increased as an additional safety protection to reduce the impact of explosions.

The blasting work was part of the construction process for the Package Two highway that links Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to Ayer Itam.

The 6km highway will consist of a mix of elevated sections, tunnels and at-grade sections with three interchanges: Interchange One at Lebuhraya Thean Teik, Interchange Two at Jalan Bukit Gambir - Jalan Sultan Azlan Shah and Interchange Three at Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway with a left-in-left-out junction and an elevated U-turn.

Package Two is one of the packages under the RM6.3 billion three major roads and undersea tunnel (PMRT) project.

Construction started in February 2021 and is expected to be completed in 2025.

According to PIC, the toll-free road connecting Bandar Baharu Ayer Itam and the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway will shorten travel time from 40 minutes to around five minutes.