City council slaps contractor with stop work order for leaving pipe jacking pit uncovered (Updated)

PETALING JAYA: Petaling Jaya City Council has issued a stop work order to the contractor for leaving a deep pipe jacking pit uncovered at Section 17, off Jalan Universiti.
PJ city mayor Mohd Azizi Mohd Zain said the stop work order has already been issued and will only be lifted after the safety around the area has been improved.
The 10m uncovered pit caused a senior citizen to drive into it yesterday.
"The contractor did take safety precautions by placing cones around the pit. But the driver of the car knocked down the cones and veered into it. The safety precautions taken were insufficient.
"After this, contractors should place concrete barriers around uncovered pits and manholes to prevent such incidents from repeating," he told the media today at the launch of the E-book Library at the Community Library Petaling Jaya.
He said contractors working around Petaling Jaya should make the necessary improvements, otherwise, they will not be given the permit to work and risk being blacklisted.
"This includes open manhole and pits, there needs to be concrete barriers placed around it so that even if the drivers bang against it, they will not end up in the hole.
"Potholes on roads and other issues that are safety hazards would need to be rectified or necessary precautions must be taken or else we will issue them a stop work order," he added.
He said contractors were generally fined when they did not adhere to guidelines but this was not effective as they would just pay the fine without making the necessary changes.