THE Housing and Local Government Ministry will convene a special committee meeting to address the issue of a free-falling lift at the Kampung Kerinchi People’s Housing Project (PPR).
Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin said the meeting would involve her ministry, the National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), Human Resources Ministry, National Housing Board and Fire and Rescue Department.
She said the meeting aimed to formulate a new mechanism to upgrade the safety and security of lifts, especially in PPR.
“I hope this meeting will find the best way to ensure that such incidents can be avoided.”
She was speaking after a working visit to the Klebang PPR site here yesterday.
Present were state Housing, Local Government, Environment and Green Technology Committee chairman Datuk Tey Kok Kiew and Klebang assemblyman Gue Teck.
Zuraida said early investigations suggested that lifts at the Kampung Kerinchi PPR, which were 12 years old, had been maintained on schedule, but noted that investigations were continuing.
Asked if the ministry would instruct the Fire and Rescue Department and local authorities to form a task force on the issue, Zuraida said the issue was under the purview of NIOSH and the Human Resources Ministry.
On Friday, eight Kampung Kerinchi PPR residents were injured when the lift they were in plunged from the fifth floor.
Residents claimed this was the second such incident. The first happened last year.
In Ipoh, Human Resources Minister M. Kula Segaran said the ministry would form a team to probe into the incident.
“We will form a special investi-gation team and look into amending policies after discussing it with the relevant quarters.
“I hope a strong decision (on the investigation and policies) will be made soon. We will inform the public later,” he said after opening a restaurant in Kampung Baru Ampang here yesterday.
It was reported that standard operating procedures on lift maintenance were managed by the Occupational Safety and Health Department (DOSH) under the Human Resources Ministry.
On Kuala Lumpur City Hall’s call for lift maintenance contractors at 45 PPR to be accompanied by a DOSH officer during monthly maintenance rounds, Kula said it was unnecessary.
“It is easy to talk, but difficult to do. We have fewer than 500 DOSH officers. How many lifts do we have in PPR?”
In Putrajaya, Federal Territories Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said there would be no compromise if there was negligence in the maintenance of the lift.
“We will investigate and there will be no cover-up. If it is a result of negligence or if the contractors were not doing their job, all this will be exposed,” he said after launching the Fly the Jalur Gemilang campaign.
He said he understood there was a discussion between Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan, the lift contractors and DOSH officials on Saturday to discuss future action, particularly on the installation of lifts in new buildings.
On reports that Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya DOSH had discovered that about 6,000 lifts did not have a certificate of fitness, Khalid said he was not sure if there were that many elevators in PPR.