Jaya Supermarket Tragedy: 1 Director of 1 Company - what about the other Directors, CEOs, etc?

Yap Choon Wai, director of construction firm CW Yap Sdn Bhd, was charged at the Sessions Court here Monday with failing to ensure the safety of others in last year’s Jaya Supermarket collapse that killed seven....and last Wednesday, Directors Yap Choon Wai, of CW Yap Sdn Bhd, and Jason Hee Kok Hing, of Lian Hup Earth Work and Construction Sdn Bhd, appeared on behalf of their companies and pleaded not guilty to the offences.

What is happening?

* Well, last Wednesday they charged two companies...

* Now, they charged one director of one of the 2 companies - What about the other Directors, and the CEOs...

* And, they are charging them under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and the question that we must ask is that why they are not also being charged under the Penal Code? What about the 'not having approval' bit - no charges about that? Where is the Petaling Jaya Local Council ...the Pakatan Rakyat State government ...maybe not bothered about the death of 'small' workers....and now focussed only on the PKR elections... 

PETALING JAYA: Yap Choon Wai, director of construction firm CW Yap Sdn Bhd, was charged at the Sessions Court here Monday with failing to ensure the safety of others in last year’s Jaya Supermarket collapse that killed seven.

The 54-year-old pleaded not guilty.

The iconic supermarket collapsed during demolition work and killed seven construction workers on May 28 last year.

Last Wednesday, two construction companies, including Yap’s, were charged in separate Sessions Courts with failing to ensure the safety of others.

Then, Yap and Jason Hee Kok Hing, of Lian Hup Earth Work and Construction Sdn Bhd, appeared on behalf of their companies and pleaded not guilty to the offences.

CW Yap Sdn Bhd was charged as an employer for failing to ensure that non-employees, namely four workers and three civilians, who could be affected by the company’s works, were not exposed to safety and health risks.

Lian Hup Earth Work and Construction Sdn Bhd was charged as an employer for failing to ensure the safety, health and welfare of all its employees on duty by failing to comply with the work safety system provided in demolition works for buildings.

Both companies allegedly committed the offences on May 28 last year at about 5pm at the site of the proposed project to demolish the office building and shopping complex at Jalan Semangat here.

The proposed project was also set to rebuild a seven-floor shopping complex building and a four-level basement car park at the site.

CW Yap Sdn Bhd and Lian Hup Earth Work and Construction Sdn Bhd were each charged under Section 17(1) and Section 15(1) of the Occupational Safety and Health Act 1994 which is punishable under Section 19 of the same Act.

Those convicted under this Section could be fined up to RM50,000 or jailed for a term not exceeding two years or both.

Both companies were represented by defence counsel Ooi Huey Min while Department of Occupational Safety and Health prosecuting officers Jaafar Leman and Hazlina Yon appeared for the prosecution.- Star, 27/9/2010, Jaya Supermarket collapse: Director Yap Choon Wai charged

See also earlier post that also has the report of the 2 companies charged a few days ago...Trial of Jaya Supermarket 'killers' of 7 workers have started - but when is the next date?

Well, they seem to be charged only under the  OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994, and even if guilty the maximum fine is RM50,000-00, and that really is nothing for these companies... and what justice is there for the 7 workers that were killed. Really this Act need to be amended to give the court powers to order that employers, who are found guilty, do also pay certain sum of compensation to the victims and/or their families. The relevant sections  ( or parts of...) under which they have been charged with is as follows. Note, that there is nothing that bars the victims (and/or their families/dependents) from commencing Civil Suits - and here a caring Local Council (like the PJ Local Council) or a caring Pakatan Rakyat State Government can come in to assist the families of these 7 victims who died unnecessarily in Petaling Jaya, Selangor get some justice.... OR really, just like BN, they too just do not care about poor workers...

15.  General duties of employers and self-employed persons to their employees. [Part IV, 
OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994]

(1) It shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person to ensure, so far as is practicable, the safety, health and welfare to work of all his employees;

17.  General duties of employers and self-employed persons to persons other than their employees. [Part IV,OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994]

(1) It shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person to conduct his undertaking in such a manner as to ensure, so far as is practicable, that he and other persons, not being his employees, who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their safety or health.

(2) It shall be the duty of every employer and every self-employed person, in the prescribed circumstances and in the prescribed manner, to give to persons, not being his employees, who may be affected by the manner in which he conducts his undertaking, the prescribed information on such aspects of the manner in which he conducts his undertaking as might affect their safety or health.

19.  Penalty for an offence under section 15, 16, 17 or 18.[Part IV,OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994]

A person who contravenes the provisions of section 15,16,17 or 18 shall be guilty of an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine not exceeding fifty thousand ringgit or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years or to both.

59.  Civil liability not affected by Parts IV, V and VI.[Part XII,OCCUPATIONAL SAFETY AND HEALTH ACT 1994]

Nothing in Parts IV, V and VI and the relevant industry code of practice shall be construed as-

(a) conferring a right of action in any civil proceedings in respect of any contravention, whether by act or omission, of any provision of those Parts;

(b) conferring a defence to an action in any civil proceedings or as otherwise affecting a right of action in any civil proceedings; or
(c) affecting the extent, if any, to which a right of action arises or civil proceedings may be taken with respect to breaches of duties imposed by other legislations in regard to safety and health.

Now, they still can charge these persons under the Penal Code... under other laws...

288. Negligence with respect to pulling down or repairing buildings.

Whoever, in pulling down or repairing any building, knowingly or negligently omits to take such order with that building as is sufficient to guard against any probable danger to human life from the fall of that building, or of any part thereof, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to six months, or with fine which may extend to two thousand ringgit, or with both.

304A. Causing death by negligence.

Whoever causes the death of any person, by doing any rash or negligent act not amounting to culpable homicide, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years, or with fine, or with both.

And, what about that lack of approval.... are they not going to be charged with that?

The Local Council enforcement officers are so alert when we do not display parking slips...but it is odd that they could not see a big unapproved demolition exercise happening  just less than 1 KM from the MBPJ office... and this incident happened when the Pakatan Rakyat was the government of Selangor. [So much concern about the death of Teoh Beng Hock, but so little concern about the death of 7 poor workers - not even a Commission of Inquiry, not even the making sure that compensations were done, not even bothering to be interested that justice be done (were they even in court to ensure justice be done??)] 

I have been searching the net to be able to at least show that the Pakatan Rakyat was different from the BN - and that they cared more for justice and welfare of the poor especially the families of these workers that died in PJ, Selangor... but alas, I did not see anything. Did the MBPJ Council and/or the State Government even sent a rep to their funerals?...NOW- if any person have any information about things that the MBPJ, Pakatan Rakyat State Government, etc did concerning this issue, you could post it as a comment...so that all will know.