The SCI has been defined as an inquiry into “the failure of temporary structures in the worksite incident” and will be open to the public.
Lim said the wording in the earlier proposed terms of references (TORs) had been amended at the suggestion of SCI’s chairman-elect Yeo Yang Poh.
“We have amended the TORs as asked by Yeo and we agreed as the changes are based on legalities.
“We have approved the amendments to broaden the scope of the investigation to provide clarity and certainty,” Lim said at a press conference today.
He said the final draft of the SCI had been sent to the governor for his assent and will be sent to the printers for gazetting as soon as possible.
The proposed Tanjung Bungah SCI has recognised the victim count as 11, comprising one Malaysian, four Bangladeshis, three Myanmars, two Indonesians and one Pakistani.
The SCI will be officially known as the “Commission of Enquiry into the Worksite Incident at Tanjung Bungah”.
The SCI will be chaired by former Bar Council chairman Yeo Yang Poh, with geotechnical expert Gue See Sew and forensic geotechnical engineer from Universiti Teknologi Malaysia, Prof Ramli Nazir.
Yeo is currently the Penang Appeals Board chairman, while Gue is the key person in advising the rehabilitation of the illegally-cleared Bukit Relau.
Ng Wee Kok, an adviser to the state-linked company Penang Hill Corporation, has been appointed as secretary of the SCI.
The SCI will have three months to come up with a report on the incident.
The updated TORs are as follows:
(a) To inquire into the cause or causes of the failure of temporary structures in a worksite incident that took place in Tanjung Bungah on Oct 21, 2017 at the Taman Sri Bunga construction site, including whether or not the cause or causes were related to the nearby quarry.
(b) To inquire into whether the failure of the temporary structures, and the resulting deaths and injuries, were due to any negligence, recklessness, breach of professional or legal duty, misconduct, or deliberate act or omission, on the part of any person, company or authority.
(c) To recommend any appropriate legal or other action, if necessary, which ought to be taken against any person, company or authority found to be responsible for the failure and loss of lives and injuries.
(d) To inquire into whether all necessary approvals for or in respect of the project at the construction site had been properly applied for and obtained in accordance with the applicable laws.
(e) To recommend any appropriate measures, and any changes or improvements, to the relevant processes and procedures that ought to be taken or made by any authority or by any other party in order to prevent or avoid the recurrence of similar incidents.
(f) To make any further or other findings and recommendations that may be related or incidental to any or all of the above matters.
The previous proposed TORs, as of Oct 25 were:
> To ascertain the cause of the failure of the temporary worksite slope at the site.
> To ascertain who should be held responsible for the failure of the temporary worksite slope.
> To come up with recommendations and appropriate action, which includes legal action, against those held responsible.
> To examine the process and procedures undertaken towards the approval of the project, especially if it had met set guidelines and to give recommendations on possible improvements to the guidelines.
> To re-examine the matters above related to the project, including if the project was built on flat land or a hillslope, and also to determine if the quarry site was the key reason for the failure of the temporary worksite slope or whether it was merely a worksite accident.
Check land condition before construction, say Tg Bungah residents