By R.S.N. Murali newsdesk@thestar.com.my

KUALA TERENGGANU: Serious engineering flaws, shoddy workmanship, inferior materials and lack of expertise in the key project management team were found to be the main contributing factors behind the roof collapse at Stadium Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin in Gong Badak.

Several other crucial factors were also underlined in a detailed 60-page confidential report finalised by an investigation committee that was tasked by the Public Works Department to determine the cause of the roof collapse at the RM292mil stadium on June 2 last year.

The committee completed its task in December and the document was declassified by the Terengganu government during the state exco meeting yesterday.

Mentri Besar Datuk Ahmad Said expressed shock that the project management team did not have the necessary skills and competence to manage a project of such magnitude and complexity.

“From the report, we realised that the project manager and his team were not properly selected to reflect the competency required in completing the project, concluding that the main contractor, a local construction firm, was fully responsible for the incident,” he said.

Ahmad said the committee also determined that the main cause of the collapse was, among others, the faulty design with failure to take into account the support condition of the roof structure.

He said the management team failed to conduct a design analysis, considering that the complex architectural shape and large spans made the structure very sensitive to any movement in the supporting structures.

Ahmad added that other factors contributing to the collapse were the undesirable manner in which the structure was erected and that no checks were done during the erection process.

He said the committee also recommended the appointment of a new team of consultants based on a quality-based selection system and accredited independent check engineers. Also, repair works should be undertaken by a specialist contractor.

He also said that the state government had sent a letter to the main contractor to bear all the costs for the reconstruction as the incident occurred less than a year after the handover and the stadium was still under warranty.