The 34-page Pakatan Rakyat ad-hoc committee report on the Oct 26 collapse of the Kuala Dipang suspension bridge in Kampar which killed three young pupils says that the blame lies with the Perak Co-curriculum Centre (PCC) located at Pangkor Island.

The four-member committee headed by ousted Pakatan state assembly speaker V Sivakumar revealed this to a packed press conference at the PAS state headquarters at 2.30pm today.

The other committee members are Thomas Su (Pasir Pinji assembly person), Chang Lih Kang (Teja) and Khalil Idham Lim (Titi Serong).

NONEAccording to Chang, earlier this year, PCC had approached the Kinta Selatan district education officer for a quotation on the construction of a bridge to connect the Sekolah Rendah Kebangsaan Kuala Dipang to the ‘1Malaysia’ camp situated across the Kampar River.

The district education officer had informed the centre that it would cost at least RM110,000 to construct the bridge but PCC said this was too high a figure and they did not have the allocation for it.

Then on Oct 9, participants at the camp saw a newly-constructed suspension bridge and informed the district education officer who came and viewed it on Oct 16. According to Chang, there was no official sanction for the construction of the illegal bridge as no plans were submitted for approval from the relevant authorities.

As a result, there was no certificate of compliance and completion issued for the bridge which did not follow the strict guidelines set by the Drainage and Irrigation Department on the construction of bridges.

‘Anchor block is the main factor’

“The DID, which is in charge of the river, gave permission to the state education department to use the camp on the understanding that official approval should be sought in case they want to build a bridge to connect with the camp,” Chang said.

“However, PCC in their hurry to cut costs did not get the official approval but instead gave the construction project to one CWL Enterprise based at 14, Jalan TK 2/13, Taman Kinrara, Seksyen 2 in Puchong, Selangor.”

The sponsor for the bridge construction project was identified as NONEone GS Synergy Sdn Bhd of 37-1, Jalan TJS 11/280, Sunway Metro, Bandar Sunway, Petaling Jaya, Selangor.

On Friday, the committee tried to contact PCC for further details on the bridge’s construction but the centre’s director had by then been ‘urgently recalled’ to the education ministry in Putrajaya.

“The collapse of the bridge was mainly due to the hastily-constructed foundation’s anchor block which could only carry a weight of less than one tonne. Whereas, the anchor block should be five times bigger to withstand a weight of 10 tonnes,” said Thomas Su.

When asked if the weakness of the soil structure was another factor for the collapse of the bridge, he replied, “The anchor block is the main factor.”

He also pointed out that the clause stating that neither the school nor the Education Department are liable for any untoward incident involving the ‘1Malaysia’ camp in the consent forms given out to parents could be challenged in court.

Earlier, Sivakumar outlined several shortcomings revealed by the committee’s report on the tragedy. Among them were:

Life jackets kept in storeroom

1. The 1:13 ratio of teacher to pupils was extremely inadequate considering the 298 pupils in the camp. There were only 23 teachers on hand and most of them were in a meeting when the bridge collapsed at 10.30pm on Oct 26.

2. There was no proper lighting or spotlights for the whole area of the camp including at the suspension bridge. The camp participants were moving around with only small torchlights in pitch darkness.

3. There was no proper control over the number of pupils that could access the bridge at any one time. Only six are allowed to cross the NONEbridge at a time.

4. No life jackets were given to the pupils when they used the bridge. Only after they fell into the river were the life jackets that were stored up in the school storeroom taken out to help the 22 pupils who had fallen into the river.

5. There was no proper planning for the safety of the pupils at the camp.

6. The 23 teachers did not undergo proper training to deal with any emergency that may occur during the four-day ‘1Malaysia’ camp. As a result, valuable time was wasted as the teachers had panicked.

A few pupils had stated during a public inquiry by the committee in Kampar on Saturday that the pupils who had clung on to the iron cables of the bridge were saved only after 30 minutes.

Legal action to follow

“This report will be given to (DAP Sungkai assembly person) A Sivanesan who is the lawyer for the families of the three girls who drowned for legal action,” said Sivakumar. The three victims were V Divyashree, 12, of SRJK Gopeng and N Dina Deve and M Devatharsini, both 11 from SJK (T) Mambang Diawan in Batu Gajah.

He added the report will also be forwarded to the MACC (Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission) for their necessary action as he said there were alleged elements of corruption in the bridge project.

“All the three victims were bright in their studies and their ambitions were to become doctors but now their lives have been snuffed out,” Sivakumar said.

It is learnt that Sivanesan will file a negligence suit on behalf of the affected families at the Ipoh High Court on Friday.