The family of a man killed when a billboard fell on him in Malacca may take legal action.
According to Bernama, the youngest child of Ahmad Yusop Omar, 64 — who was on his way home on a motorcycle when the ‘Do Not Mess With Melaka’ campaign signboard collapsed and killed him — said taking legal action was an option that would ensure no such incidents happen again.
READ: ‘Don’t Mess With Malacca’ billboard kills man
“Our family has accepted what happened to father (as fate), but we’re somewhat sad that the accident occurred involved a billboard, and it was quite sudden,” Farahniza, 27, was quoted as saying.
“We will wait for the investigations regarding the incident to be completed in the next few days, before we make a decision on whether legal action will be taken against the parties involved,” she was quoted further.
The incident reportedly happened at 7.15am, when Ahmad Yusop was at the Jalan Pokok Mangga traffic light junction heading towards Klebang.
Quoted in the same report, Malacca Chief Minister Datuk Seri Idris Haron said initial investigations showed that billboard was a temporary one that hadn’t received approval from the Melaka Historic City Council (MBMB).
According to Idris, the billboard — installed in 2009 and also used to display other advertisements and greetings — had other issues too: it did not meet the standards set by MBMB, and the developer and contractor of the billboard were not registered with the city council.
“There are a lot of substandard billboards like these which use angle iron or channel iron, fitted for a certain period. These types of billboards may have to be taken down after the campaign is over,” he was quoted as saying.
