SMC President Ang vows to help victims, apologizes for incident
(Eagle News) — The Department of Labor and Employment suspended work in the ongoing construction of the Skyway Extension project in Muntinlupa City following Saturday’s incident where a steel girder fell, along with a crane, crashing onto passing vehicles below.
One person was killed on Saturday, Nov. 21, while several others were injured after steel girder fell on six vehicles.
The suspension of the constructions happened as the DOLE is conducting a probe of the incident, including a check if there were violations in the occupational safety and health standards.
San Miguel Corporation is also investigating the accident on their project which was under the contractor EEI Corporation.
DOLE Spokesperson Rolly Francia said thar the suspension order was issued by the regional director of DOLE for National Capiral Region (NCR) Atty. Sarah Mirasol
“She (Atty, Mirasol) directed the contractor, EEI corporation, and its subcontractors to stop the project,” said Francia.
“The work stoppage order covers the entire stretch of the construction project,” he said.
Francia said the suspension will be in effect until it is lifted by the regional office and until after the completion of their probe.
-SMC President issues apology, extends condolences to victim’s family-
SMC President and CEO Ramon Ang also expressed his condolences to the family of the person who died in the incident, and apologized for what happened. He gave his “personal assurance’ that the family will be taken care of.
“Even with a contractor handling construction, ultimately, we are responsible for the welfare of those who were affected. I would like to personally apologize to the victims and their families, as well as to our larger community in Muntinlupa,” he said in a statement.
The accident was reportedly caused by a crane which tipped over as it was being moved into position. It then hit a steel girder, which fell on six vehicles.
“This terrible and tragic accident has affected me in ways which I can’t even begin to express. I have not stopped thinking about the people who were affected, the four that were injured and most especially, the person who perished and his family. There are no words that can ease the grief of losing a loved one,” Ang said in his statement.
He said that SMC will also attend to the needs of those injured.
Ang assured a thorough investigation of the incident, and that the SMC and its contractor EEi would ensure that even stricter measures would be put in place at the project site.
“In a project of this magnitude and scale, there are many redundant safety measures in place. Unfortunately, we can’t predict every outcome. And I’m sure no one wanted this to happen,” he said.
“Regardless, we are working with authorities to determine the root cause of this incident. We will find out where lapses occurred and do whatever is necessary to help make sure they don’t happen again,” Ang added.
(Eagle News Service)
