KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 27 — Women and migrant rights group Tenaganita has criticised the handling of dead migrant workers involved in the Bukit Kukus landslide tragedy, demanding that due actions be taken upon the contractors they worked for.
In a statement today, the NGO said that the death of the nine men should just not be mere statistics, as they too deserve justice.
“Lai Sin Kian, the technical director of Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd, the main contractor for the paired road under construction, has disclaimed responsibility for those who perished in the landslide, and let the bodies lie unclaimed in the mortuary stating that they were not hired by the company or its subcontractors,” it said in a statement.
“This is completely irresponsible in addition to being callous and cruel.
“Yuta Maju Sdn Bhd should be held responsible for people who die on their work site. It is common knowledge that main contractors employ sub-contractors, who in turn engage the services of sub-sub-contractors,” Tenaganita added.
It said that often, subcontractors employ migrant workers who are subjected to various forms of violations, including unsafe work practices, non-payment of wages, injuries and deaths, among others.
The organisation also expressed concern with what it claims to be an increasing trend by main contractors to shrug off responsibility for the said violations, by claiming that the victims are not their employees.
“Does Yuta Maju not know who these ‘outsiders’ are, and what they doing at their work site? If indeed that is the case, could it perhaps be an indication of a general lackadaisical attitude of the company, especially with regard to workers?” Tenaganita said.
On October 24, Bernama reported Yuta Maju, the main contractor of the Jalan Bukit Kukus paired road project, claiming that there were strangers living at the construction site in Paya Terubong where the landslide tragedy happened.
Bernama reported the company saying that the cabins that were affected by the landslide were former living quarters of workers employed for the project, but which had reportedly been vacated and abandoned weeks before the incident.
In its statement today, Tenaganita also called for a fair and adequate compensation to be paid to the migrant workers families.
“Families and next of kin of many of the migrant workers who died a year in the Tanjung Bungah landslide have still not receive the paltry compensation that is due to them. This could be partly due to bureaucratic inefficiencies, but the fact remains that they have still not received the money.
“As beneficiaries of their labour, sweat, blood and lives, it is incumbent on us to do everything possible so that their dependents and loved ones are not left helpless and impoverished,” it said.
The incident at the Bukit Kukus paired road project site claimed three Indonesian men, five Bangladeshi men and a Burmese woman, while another Bangladeshi man was reported missing.
Both the Department of Occupational Safety and Health and the Penang Island City Council have issued stop work orders against the project pending investigations into the incident.
The Penang state government has also set up a special committee to investigate the incident.
