LABUAN: The Department of Safety and Health should appeal the recent High Court decision where a mere RM15,000 fine or 12 months’ jail was imposed on a contractor who directed three staff to carry out illegal works that resulted in three families losing their breadwinners when they were shocked to death.
“They were killed while installing solar lights on a lamppost owned by Sabah Electricity inside the JKR compound.
“If JKR knowingly allowed this without checking if the contractor had permission then it makes the government agency equally complicit in causing their deaths and should not have been let off.
“This is because Sabah Electricity said it was not notified of the work,” said social activist Hj Abdul Jalil Ghani.
“The judgment appears as if rubbing salt into the wounds of the three grieving families, like saying the lives of these husbands and fathers were each only worth RM5,000,” said Abdul Jalil.
“It was stated that the contractor E. Royston Tan was registered with SE under Royz Enterprise. How many others registered with SE may also be doing likewise because money seems what matters and not human lives?”
According to the report the trio – Wong Yee Ming, 61, Salih Laurel 35, and Jamil, 25, were fixing solar lights for their contractor, one E. Royston Tan, when the tragedy happened at 10.44am at the Ranau Public Works Department (JKR) compound on Christmas eve last year.
The solar panels being installed came into contact with the 11kv overhead line, resulting in electric shock and sparks. It was reported that the contractor for the job failed to obtain a permit to carry out the work.
Tan was charged under Section 55 (1) of the Electricity Supply Enactment 2024 which carries a fine up to RM300,000 or a jail term of three years or both, on conviction
“Hence, the fine of just RM5,000 each for the three lives he caused to be lost for carrying out the illegal operation does not make sense,” said Abdul Jalil.
It was stated that the three who were electrocuted were unqualified and worked under unsafe conditions, only wearing slippers on metal scaffolding near live electrical wires and without supervision.
The distance between the solar lamp and high voltage main power line was a mere 1.3m when it should have been at least 3.45m.
“In mitigation, Tan said he had to fend for his siblings, mother and grandmother. But who are going to fend for the families of the three now?”
“Where else has the contractor also carried out such work without permission on government installations?”
Abdul Jalil said in the absence of proper findings by a professional body like DOSH, the RM15,000 award would be seen as inadequate based on the amended Safety and Health Act 2022 which stipulates an amount of RM100,000 and which could reach up to RM500,000.
"The amended rates were to serve as a strong deterrent not to disregard safety measures and also covered a wider field of work," noted Jalil.
