It’s always a relief when someone assures you a city landmark isn’t going to collapse into a pile of rubble.
Mass Rapid Transit Corporation (MRT Corp) put out a statement yesterday aiming to reassure the public that its current tunneling operations in the Bukit Bintang district isn’t going cause the BB Plaza shopping mall to collapse or be damaged in any way.
“We deny that BB Plaza was or is under any threat of collapse or damage due to the construction of the MRT tunnels and station,” the statement said.
This follows media releases on October 16 and 27 from UDA Holdings Bhd, which owns and operates BB Plaza, saying that the shopping mall was “not very safe for occupation due to underground works for the construction of the MRT”.
MRT Corp stressed in its statement that throughout its tunneling operations in the area and the process of constructing the underground station there, no buildings along Jalan Bukit Bintang were damaged as a direct result of MRT works.
“Our contractor, MMC Gamuda KVMRT (Tunnelling) Sdn Bhd (MGKT) had taken all necessary steps to monitor ground movements during the activity, to ensure that building and public safety was not compromised.
“This included installation of monitoring equipment on buildings and structures along Jalan Bukit Bintang, as well as visual monitoring of roads and buildings by engineers,” the statement reads, as quoted by The Star Online‘s Victoria Brown.
“The technology applied for the construction is state-of-the-art, and all necessary precautions were undertaken by MGKT to ensure the safety of buildings and structures along the route.”
In April, two sinkholes formed at the nearby junction of Jalan Imbi and Jalan Hang Tuah, prompting fears that the extensive construction work in the vicinity was putting the buildings there at risk.
However, MRT Corp was not to blame for the sinkholes, as they were caused instead by City Hall’s work on an underpass.
