Two cars damaged by falling debris

20/12/2007 The Star By Tan Karr Wei

THE residents of Flora Damansara Block F in Petaling Jaya were enjoying their slumber yesterday when they were rudely awakened by a loud crashing noise at 5am.

Fearing for the worse, some residents rushed out to check. They were shocked to find two cars damaged by falling debris from the building.

Shocking: All PJ Pro Action Committee chairman Edward Lee (left) and resident Major (Rtd) Sheikh Mohd Mustaffa checking the damage caused by the fallen debris.

Nik Isdzline Mohd Zain, 27, who lives on the first floor of Block F, was upset to find that parts of a concrete beam had damaged the passenger side window of her two-year-old Kelisa.

“I contacted the management about the incident and an officer just dismissed the matter, saying it was a common occurrence,” she said.

Isdzline is obviously upset and not satisfied with the management's indifference towards the incident.

Management representatives were not around when StarMetro visited the site at 10am yesterday.

Debris also landed on the windscreen of another car parked on the opposite side of the road.

Sarbanu Abdul Aziz, 26, found that her Proton Putra was damaged by a piece of concrete that had fallen from the building and was stuck to the floor of the car.

The impact of the debris that fell from the 23rd floor also damaged an apartment window on the 4th floor and an air-conditioner unit on the 5th floor.

Resident Sheikh Mohd Mustaffa was appalled to find empty cement bags among the debris, suspecting that they were used as fillings for the concrete beam.

According to pro tem residents association chairman Ho Fook Chuan, the committee had requested the building control department of the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to send an engineer to inspect the building as on July 1 there was a case of falling concrete slabs.

The MBPJ then sent an officer on Aug 2 to check the defects of the building but did not send an engineer as requested.

“We have written another letter to the MBPJ on Dec 4 to send an engineer. Although minor works were done to the place, we want an engineer from the council to inspect the building and confirm that it is safe,” Ho said.

When contacted, MBPJ public relations director Haniza Abdul Hamid said an architect had been sent to the site to investigate the matter.