Works Minister S Samy Vellu today came under fire for making an 'unfair remark' concerning the delays in the repair works on the crack-ridden Middle Ring Road 2 (MRR2) in Kuala Lumpur.

The minister had pinned the blame on an internal tussle in the Public Works Department (PWD) for the delays in remedial works on the flyover located in Kepong.

However, Parliamentary public accounts committee (PAC) chairperson Shahrir Samad ( photo ) felt that the minister was not being fair to his subordinates.

"It's a most unfortunate claim because the civil servants involved cannot defend themselves. It's not fair, is it?

"You cannot say it's an internal struggle among the civil servants. They cannot defend themselves," he said when contacted.

Since the controversy regarding the flyover erupted last year, Shahrir said the minister had taken sides with the contractors and consultants

"As a minister you are the leader of a group. If you are involved in the conflict yourself then may be it makes you an ineffective leader," he added.

Don't look for scapegoats

Shahrir, who is also the Backbenchers Club chairperson, said the primary concern of the PAC is to ensure that the repair works are carried out as soon as possible.

"Get things done rather than punish this and that person. I know the media is looking for a scapegoat," he added when asked who should be responsible for the delays.

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Opposition leader Lim Kit Siang said the latest development was a 'powerful reminder' to the prime minister that a cabinet and government shake-up is long overdue.

"If not for the intra-ministerial disputes, the MRR2 would have been repaired by now," he added in a statement.

Contacted later, Works Ministry secretary-general Syed Jamal Syed Jaafar declined to comment on the matter beyond saying, "You should pursue this with the minister".

PWD director-general Prof Wahid Omar could not be reached for comment.

PM's intervention

In a front-page report today, Chinese newspaper Oriental News Daily quoted Samy Vellu ( left ) as saying that his ministry was ready to carry out the repairs earlier but could not do so because 'some people' declined to take action.

Without naming these individuals, he said the disagreement between some senior engineers in the ministry resulted in the repair works being postponed several times.

He added that Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi was informed about the matter and the latter decided to intervene and ordered the immediate closure of MRR2 to allow repair works to commence.

The flyover had to be closed for three months from Aug 9, 2004 after cracks appeared on 31 out of the 33 support beams.

The stretch is part of the RM238 million Package 11 of the MRR2 project, which was awarded to BumiHiway (M) Sdn Bhd, Sukmin Sdn Bhd and Konsortium Kontraktor Melayu.

It was reopened on Nov 12 but only four of the six lanes were open to traffic.

At about the same time, the cabinet had appointed British consultants the Halcrow Group to investigate the cause of the cracks and to come out with solutions.

In its report on Sept 29, 2004, the consultant company found that a design flaw and the improper anchorage of the crossbeams on the concrete columns were at fault.

In Dec 2004, Halcrow submitted a proposal on the repair works and the structure to the PWD but the department did not take any action.

Answering a question in Dewan Rakyat last Sept, Samy had said that PWD would carry out the repair works in Nov and expected to completed in July this year.

However, no repair works were carried out until the premier's directive issued last week following an emergency meeting.