The belligerent responses of Works Minister, Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu vis-à-vis the structural defects of the flyover in MRR2 only go to show that he has something to hide; as the saying goes, the best form of defense is attack.

Firstly, Samy Vellu warned that the engineer, who designed the flyover, would sue those who question the structural design integrity of the flyover.

Can he? Will he? Structural defects can only be attributed to two main causes; i.e. design inadequacy or constructional shortfalls in materials and workmanship, and both are under the purview of the appointed engineer or engineers.

In Malaysia, if the Government needs a consulting engineer, it would appoint one to undertake both the design and supervision of construction. Only on rare occasions are two engineers appointed, one for design and the other for construction supervision.

If engineers in the headquarters of Jabatan Kerja Raya (JKR) in the Ministry of Works had checked the design of the structure and were satisfied with it, then the defects can only be attributed to poor workmanship and inadequate construction supervision. In this event, both the contractor and the engineer appointed for the construction supervision have a lot to answer for.

Hopefully, the investigation by ACA will look into this and ascertain who is responsible for the defects.

Secondly, Samy Vellu had ordered the repairs to the defective piers to be put on hold until after ACA has completed its investigation. But he had earlier also mentioned that a neutral local engineer would be appointed to investigate the causes of the defects as the two foreign consultants, one appointed by the contractor and the other by JKR, gave differing opinions.

In order that the third consultant can perform his investigations, the repairs will also have to be put on hold. What is there to investigate when the repairs have been completed? Hence where is the logic of the warning that repairs will be held up if the ACA is involved?

Furthermore, it must be obvious that the cause of defects must be analysed and determined before closing down a structure for remedial works. Hence the fact that Samy Vellu had decided on the closure of the bridge shows that he must have already known the causes of the defects. So why the need for a neutral local engineer when he had already decided to go right ahead with the remedial works.

Samy Vellu had also stated that a new material called prestressed carbon fiber would be used to repair and strengthen the defective piers. The estimated cost of repair was a hefty sum of RM20 million and it would take three months to complete. Have open tenders been called to do this?

You don't have to be an engineer to know that there is more here than meets the eye in this episode - that all Samy Vellu's statements and actions smack of a possible cover-up.

It is hoped that the investigation to be carried out by ACA will unearth the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

In case the Honorable Minister's men have been too timid to tell him, he might like to know that there is already in the internet a song for him, to a tune he surely knows, that goes in part like this:

Kepong bridge is falling down

So shut us up, and carry on,
You know best, f........ the rest,
Shut us up, and F… THE REST,
A...I…… YO… YO….SAMY.

Note 1. The amended version of the above article was published in The Star, 21 Aug 2004.

Note 2. The parody at the end of the article was compiled by a good friend of mine when he became aware I was very angry and depressed over the whole episode. He did it for the sole purpose of giving me a giggle or two. It did and I hope it would do the same to all of you.