Bangladesh Honorary Consul calls for improving of safety standards at work sites

GEORGE TOWN: The Honorary Consul of Bangladesh in Penang has called for a collaboration to improve the safety standards at work sites, following the landslide tragedy at a construction site here which claimed the lives of six Bangladeshi nationals.
Datuk Shaik Ismail Allaudin said that work safety updates and techniques should not just be confined to local workers, but should include foreigners as well.
He believes there must be collaboration between the employers and workers, to avoid such tragedies in the future.
Shaik Ismail said that the local authorities need to beef up work safety following a spate of landslides which have victimised unsuspecting workers.
The rescue efforts at the landslide site in Jalan Bukit Kukus, near Paya Terubong, has unearthed nine bodies, with one more Indonesian worker listed as missing as of Tuesday.
Over a year ago, two Bangladeshis were also among those who perished in a similar landslide at a housing construction site in Tanjung Bungah.
Out of the six Bangladeshi victims in the last one, two were brought home, while the others remain at the mortuary in the Penang Hospital.
Shaik Ismail said that the consulate intends to press for clarification on why the contractors of the landslide hit project had allowed workers to continue living on site despite a stop work order which was issued on Oct 13.
He was also appalled that the foreign workers were allowed to live inside containers so near to the construction site, and under the very slope which was cut and cleared for the paired elevated highway road.
"We have too many work site related incidents which resulted in Bangladeshi deaths. We need the local employers to improve the work safety standards as foreigners come here to earn a living, not to die prematurely."
Shaik Ismail said that he would be calling for a media briefing soon on the issue of safeguarding the lives of foreign workers at workplaces.