GEORGE TOWN, Aug 18 — Penang has directed the Public Works Department (PWD) and UEM Builder Berhad to submit a safety audit plan for the construction of a flyover for the Bayan Lepas Expressway (BLE) after they were issued a stop-work order last night.
The state government yesterday also ordered for the Hilir Sungai Keluang 1 and Lebuhraya Kampung Jawa stretch along the Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Expressway to be reopened to traffic today pending the submission of the safety audit plan.
Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the state government decided to reopen the road last night after observing shortcomings in PWD and UEM’s traffic diversion when the road was closed leading to massive traffic congestion in the Free Industrial Zone yesterday.
The road was closed from last Saturday to facilitate the construction of a flyover across Sungai Keluang for the BLE, causing a traffic gridlock in the area that lasted for several hours during rush hours yesterday.
“I am very angry after observing what happened yesterday so we decided to issue stop work order and reopen the road today,” Lim said in a press conference at his office today.
“We will only allow follow-up works on the completed sections but not any concreting works on the flyover,” Lim said.
The state government will appoint an independent consultant to study and approve the safety audit plan to be submitted by UEM and PWD before allowing any concreting works on the flyover to continue.
Lim emphasised that this is for the safety of road users along the stretch as he does not want a repeat of the incident two years ago when a concrete slab from part of the construction of a ramp connecting to the second bridge collapsed, killing a passing motorist.
“We are of course worried because if they can fail to divert traffic smoothly yesterday, what more the construction of the flyover which could pose safety risks to road users,” he added.
UEM project manager Ahmad Fauzi Ali apologised to the public over the traffic issues yesterday and stressed that the stop-work order was not due to any defects or safety risks of the project.
“We want to stress that we will comply with the stop work order as a preventive measure pending the submission of the safety audit plan,” he said.
