Block A off-limits for now

SRI Desa Entrepreneurs Park Block A tenants will have to wait a few weeks before returning to work at Jalan 8/116B off Jalan Kuchai Maju in Kuala Lumpur.

Block A building manager Emily Sim said the block was not accessible as the area had been cordoned off.

“The safety report will take two to three weeks.

“Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and the Fire and Rescue Department will have to endorse it to ensure the building is safe,” she said.

The building safety report is being prepared by a consultant appointed by the Sri Desa Entrepreneurs Park Management Committee.

At around 10.40pm on Aug 15, a beam from an upper floor of the five-storey commercial block fell, crushing 10 vehicles parked at the ground level.

Kuala Lumpur police chief Comm Datuk Allaudeen Abdul Majid, Brickfields OCPD Asst Comm Amihizam Abdul Shukor, Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok and Wangsa Maju MP Zahir Hassan visited the area yesterday.

Kamarulzaman said DBKL would issue notices for the other three blocks at Sri Desa Entrepreneurs Park to assess the buildings’ safety.

“We do not want the same thing to happen to the other blocks,” he said.

Several vehicles were crushed by a falling beam.

Kamarulzaman added periodic building safety inspections should be carried out every five years in line with relevant by-laws.

Lawyer Cheng Xin Yan, whose office is in Block A, said she was told to work from home the next day following the incident.

She had parked her car along the stretch where the beam fell on the day of the incident.

“I left work before 10pm but knowing what could have happened sends shivers down my spine,” she said.

A health food distribution company owner, who wanted to be known as Yeo, said the sudden closure had affected her business.

“I cannot distribute goods to pharmacies and some documents are at the office.

“Although I have another storeroom elsewhere, some goods are kept in the office unit.

“I estimate losses of more than RM50,000 with the temporary closure.

“I learned from police that it may take weeks before we can return,” she said.

Workers of a popular dim sum restaurant were also seen clearing food and other items from the restaurant.

The commercial area has four blocks in total.

Although Block C is not cordoned off, most shops were closed as the road is not accessible.