The skeleton of the old building remained but was cosmetically remodelled in blue. You could see it from miles away. The building was also extended out front replacing the open-air car park. The new car park was to be underground and also multi-storied on it's side. The supermarket has been closed almost 2 years ago.
3 weeks ago when I started training, I was chatting with the IT administrator of the training centre. He said that the building is to be demolished to make way for a new building. He said they will demolish the historical building but did not say when.
It was last Thursday that I left the training centre and went to fill up petrol at Jalan 222 and then to the HSBC bank and Maybank in PJ New Town. I casually went there and did my banking without feeling anything amidst.
After that, I headed back to my house. I used the Asia Jaya road which would lead to the Jaya Supermarket. I noticed that an unussual jam had built-up and the area looked chaotic with cars. Suddenly I felt something was not right but was not sure what it was.
So I reached the front of Jaya Supermarket and was about to turn into one of the lanes when a Rela Member stopped me and diverted me to go straight rather than turn in. I had noticed dump trucks linning the streets. I had thought they were re-surfacing the road and was thinking how good of the state government to improve public services. Then as I passed the supermarket there was the police, fire-brigade, ambulance and emergency assistance teams. I figured it could have been a riot or something, you know lah being in the big city, such thing can possibly happen.
I was curious. Can say Kay Po lah! Haha! So I parked the car down the road and walked up to the busy area where I saw a crowd. I actually wanted to go the Digital Mall nearby to get a new handphone casing. However, this gathering looked unussual so I went to the crowd first.
I asked a pak cik on his motorcycle what happened. He told me that the rear end of the building collapsed during demolition and that 20 people were buried alive. I was shocked and went closer to the scene.
Now how can a demolition go wrong? What were the construction workers doing in the building during demolition? How bad the communication of the demolition was between the workers and the team in-charge of the demolition? All these questions ran through my mind.
I feel that the team in-charge of the demolition to be responsible for this dissaster. They did not take the necessary precautions. The residents in front of the demolition site were still inhabiting the row of houses. Only today Sunday that the residents have been relocated to a nearby hotel until the demolition is over or when the local city council deems the area safe again.
It is very disappointing that in this current times, such things still can happen because of poor planning and miscalculation. The people in-charge did not consider the safety of the nearby residents as the supermarket is surrounded by houses and apartments. Only after this accident that the residents are being prioritized and placed in safe areas. Sadly they did not think of this earlier.
How on earth could they put so many cranes on the roof of the supermarket without considering the accumulated weight in tonnes put on the building which was the reason for it to collapse? I find this stupid planning and there was no application of common sense.
I think base on the newspapers, 7 workers actually perished. I think only 1 survived. 2 of them could not be identified because of how badly disfigured their faces were.
I do feel sorry for them as they are foreign workers and come from far to earn money to send back home. Just think of their families and how they will react to this news.
I have seen how organized demolition is done in the USA and Europe. The building collapses so gracefully and how detailed the planning was to ensure the safety of everyone from the workers to the residence nearby.
The rules and regulations of demolition should be tightened. The local city council should also conduct inspections to ensure that the rules are complied by the demolition team/ developer. It would be much pro-active compared to chilling at the local 'mamak' stalls in droves. The safety and welfare of the public should be their number one concern and I am sure it is stated somewhere in the constituition of the council. This could be a sign why the opposition may take over the country for better change that the public wants.
It is embaracing for us to brag about the tallest building or the longest roti to the world when the simple things are neglected.
