by Parliamentary Opposition Leader, DAP Secretary-General and MP for Tanjung, Lim Kit Siang, in Penang on Sunday, June 5, 1994:
Anwar Ibrahim should use his good offices to let Highland Towers residents have copies of the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council inquiry report before the Cabinet decides whether to make the report public
Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, should use his good offices to let Highland Towers residents have copies of the Ampang Java Municipal Council inquiry report into the Highland Towers Collapse Disaster last December before the Cabinet decides whether to make the report public.
The request of the Highland Towers residents that they be given copies of the inquiry report irrespective of whether it is to be made pubic or not is most legitimate and reasonable, and the Deputy Prime Minister should accede to their request.
The Ampang Jaya Municipal Council report blaming the developer and the weak foundation for the cause of the collapse of the Highland Towers on December 11 last year which killed 48 people has caused even more anguish and agony to the survivors and relatives of the victims.
The Highland Towers residents committee, which included structural engineers, have raised four questions about the inquiry report which are most relevant, viz:
* If the foundation was substandard, why did the council approve the design and construction of the three blocks;
* Why did the foundation collapse without prior indication of weaknesses when the building had stood firm for 16 years;
* Could any building with a foundation built in accordance with regulations have withstood the pressure of the massive landslip of about 40,000 cubic metres of earth which hit Block A of Highland Towers ten minutes before the building collapsed; and
* If the landslip was the contributory factor for the collapse, then who was responsible for the landslip?
As the partial revelations of the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council report has caused confusion, pain and anguish to the Highland Towers residents, and the Special Cabinet Committee is of the view that the report should be made public, Anwar Ibrahim should make the report public without any further delay. There should be no ground for anyone to feel that there had been any attempt at a ‘cover-up’ of the Highland Towers Collapse Disaster.