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- Jul 24, 2008
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Apr 10, 2010
Agency should not avoid handling mishaps
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MY CAR'S rear door window was broken by a grass cutter contracted by the National Parks Board (NParks) in June last year. My car was then parked outside my house along Jalan Sinar Bintang.
An NParks officer promptly attended to my complaint, photographed the damage and advised me on reimbursement.
The officer collected the official receipts on behalf of the contractor and promised to get back to me. After three weeks, there was no response and I contacted the officer. I was then told to contact the contractor directly regarding the claim.
I was surprised when the officer further told me that the contractor wanted me to claim against my car insurance.
When I raised the matter to the NParks supervisor, she promised to investigate. When I received no response, I made several calls and later received the original receipt in a blank envelope. So I called the supervisor to ask what the returned receipt meant, and she promised to look into the matter. She got back to us and agreed that the contractor was liable to pay for the replacement and the original receipt was handed over again.
My question is, shouldn't NParks exercise responsibility, if not accept liability? While the damage was done by a contractor, the fact remains that the contractor was engaged by NParks. Moreover, NParks has a public responsibility to ensure public safety in work undertaken under its jurisdiction.
Public agencies should not shirk mishaps caused by the workers it contracts and expect the public to bear the burden of claims.
Loh Kuan Hua
Agency should not avoid handling mishaps
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<!-- end left side bar --><!-- story content : start -->
MY CAR'S rear door window was broken by a grass cutter contracted by the National Parks Board (NParks) in June last year. My car was then parked outside my house along Jalan Sinar Bintang.
An NParks officer promptly attended to my complaint, photographed the damage and advised me on reimbursement.
The officer collected the official receipts on behalf of the contractor and promised to get back to me. After three weeks, there was no response and I contacted the officer. I was then told to contact the contractor directly regarding the claim.
I was surprised when the officer further told me that the contractor wanted me to claim against my car insurance.
When I raised the matter to the NParks supervisor, she promised to investigate. When I received no response, I made several calls and later received the original receipt in a blank envelope. So I called the supervisor to ask what the returned receipt meant, and she promised to look into the matter. She got back to us and agreed that the contractor was liable to pay for the replacement and the original receipt was handed over again.
My question is, shouldn't NParks exercise responsibility, if not accept liability? While the damage was done by a contractor, the fact remains that the contractor was engaged by NParks. Moreover, NParks has a public responsibility to ensure public safety in work undertaken under its jurisdiction.
Public agencies should not shirk mishaps caused by the workers it contracts and expect the public to bear the burden of claims.
Loh Kuan Hua
