PIE viaduct collapse: Charges against managing director of builder Or Kim Peow withdrawn
The site of an accident at an uncompleted viaduct along the PIE, where a structure collapsed on Jul 14, 2017. (Photo: Gaya Chandramohan)
SINGAPORE: The group managing director of a builder in court proceedings over the collapse of a viaduct in 2017 had his charges withdrawn on Wednesday (Jul 31).
This was after he was given conditional warnings by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and Building and Construction Authority (BCA) a day before the trial involving his company Or Kim Peow Contractors was set to open.
Mr Or Toh Wat, 51, was granted a discharge not amounting to an acquittal for the two charges he faced under the Building Control Act and a single charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
READ: Uncompleted viaduct near PIE collapses; 1 dead, 10 injured
The group managing director of Or Kim Peow Contractors had been charged over unapproved building works as well as lapses linked to the death of one worker and injuries of 10 others.
The 11 workers were on top of a section of the incomplete Pan Island Expressway (PIE) viaduct when it collapsed in the early morning of Jul 14, 2017.
Mr Or's defence lawyer told the court that MOM and BCA officers gave his client conditional warnings on Wednesday morning for all three charges.
The prosecutor successfully applied for the three charges to be discharged not amounting to an acquittal.
READ: Accredited checker jailed over PIE viaduct collapse which left 1 dead, 10 injured
Or Kim Peow Contractors is set to go to trial on Thursday for a charge under the Workplace Safety and Health Act.
It is accused of not conducting an adequate risk assessment of the corbels of two piers failing when it learned about the cracks that appeared on the support structures, and for not stopping work at the affected section upon discovery of fresh cracks on the corbels.
Three other individuals charged over the incident are set to go to trial as planned.
