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Waskita Karya to receive further sanctions
The government is looking into the possibility of slapping another sanction on state construction firm Waskita Karya following a recent fatal accident at the company’s construction site in Jakarta
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he government is looking into the possibility of slapping another sanction on state construction firm Waskita Karya following a recent fatal accident at the company’s construction site in Jakarta.
The accident on Sunday killed one person, who was hit by a hollow metal block that fell from the construction site in Pasar Rumput. The accident added to the worrying safety track record of the company, which has been one of the spearheads of the government’s infrastructure development program.
In the last two years, Waskita Karya has been involved in eight accidents, including in the light rapid transit project in South Sumatra and the Pasuruan-Probolinggo toll road in East Java.
The Public Works and Housing Ministry has sent a recommendation to the State-Owned Enterprises Ministry on the kind of sanction that should be handed to Waskita Karya and other state construction companies.
Waskita received the harshest sanction compared to other state construction firms such as Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karya. While Waskita saw a shake up of its board of directors, Adhi Karya and Wijaya Karya merely received a warning letter from the ministry.
Public Works and Housing Minister Basuki Hadimuljono said he would look into the audit by the Construction Safety Committee (KKK), which is in charge of the safety evaluation of construction projects, regarding the consequences of the latest accident on Waskita.
“[The latest board of directors sanction] is for the previous accidents, which did not include [the latest accident],” he said on Tuesday.
He added the ministry would first examine the recommendation from the KKK before deciding on the sanction. Basuki said the ministry classified the latest accident as a work accident instead of a construction accident.
The victim of the accident, Tarminah, 53, was reported to have been on her way to purchase vegetables nearby the construction site in Pasar Rumput, a project under the responsibility of Waskita Karya, when a hollow metal block fell and hit her on the head.
“We have to be wise. Unless it is a construction [accident], [the audit] might be faster, this is a work accident,” he said.
The minister will receive a report on the result of the audit on Friday.
Commenting on the matter, the ministry’s director general for construction, also the head of the KKK, Syarif Burhanuddin confirmed the committee had launched an investigation into the project.
“It is negligence. It is about work safety, but not because of the construction. We will check on how the hollow metal block could have fallen,” he said.
He added that someone would be held responsible for the accident.
Syarif added there might indeed be another sanction for Waskita Karya if the accident was caused by negligence on the part of the company as a contractor.
Waskita Karya announced earlier that it will stop all construction at Pasar Rumput.
“We decided to temporarily suspend [construction] so that there can be an evaluation,” Waskita Karya division head I IGN Joko Herwanto said.
Meanwhile, State-Owned Enterprises Ministry undersecretary for construction and transportation infrastructure Ahmad Bambang stated the ministry would place a director in charge of quality, health, safety and environment on the Waskita Karya board.
“The general task [of the new director] is to guarantee quality and safety according to standards and rules,” he said.
The board of directors shake-up is slated to take place in April at the shareholder meeting.
