KUALA LUMPUR: NO approval has been given to the operator of the "rope swing" jump at the Kuala Kubu Baru bridge, where a 33-year-old woman fell on the rocks below and broke her back after the rope reportedly snapped in the Sept 27 incident.
In fact, it is learnt that the operator had been running the business for more than two years.
The Hulu Selangor district council said the operator was told to cease conducting the activity on Sept 10 2019, but had defied the council's orders.
"We were also notified that the police had directed the operator to stop a couple of times," said the council.
The council also confirmed that no agency had monitored the activities or were entrusted to check whether the operator had fulfilled the required safety regulations or licensing requirements. This was because the operator was among those included in the state's initiative to "whiten" adventure sports for tourism.
The council's statement also implied that approvals for such activities were, however, not a free-for-all, and that operators had to wait for guidelines to be available before operating.
"We will be sending our official report on the situation and the recent incident to the state after a technical meeting, scheduled to be held next week on the matter."
Asked on the licensing requirements of these thrill-seeking activities, the council said the exercise involved many aspects. They included safety, licensing, insurance coverage and so on.
It said the technical agencies involved in the task included the Works Ministry and the Youth and Sports Ministry, as well as the Fire and Rescue Services Department.
When contacted yesterday, Kuala Kubu Baru assemblyman Lee Kee Hiong said the Public Works Department (PWD) had informed her that it had not given the operator any approval to use the bridge for its activities, which was under its jurisdiction.
"In a workshop by the department, the officials had disapproved the use of the bridge for rope swinging, and told the operator to find another structure," she said.
This is believed to be an update to a response to the operator back in November 2017, where the department said that it had no objections over the operator using the bridge for its activities.
In the response that was sighted on social media, the operator had to prepare a traffic management plan and that approvals had to be obtained from a slew of other agencies like the local PWD office, the district council, Fire and Rescue Department and the Land and Mines Office.
The operator was also expected to notify the PWD in advance before conducting its activities.
Lee said she was informed that the council had, in fact, sent a legal notice to the operator.
She suggested that something be done to prevent a repeat of what happened. She also suggested that the authorities conduct an audit on all informal rides and extreme sports activities around the state, and regulate them to raise their safety standards.
"The Kuala Kubu Baru operator would definitely stop now, but the agencies should have worked faster to shut them down because there were no approvals given.
"They may be PWD roads, but the local council had all the details, plus the operator also dared to do this in the open.
"Now, with what has happened, only the victim's family can take action as the operator clearly lack ed approvals for its activities."
She believed the operator had been running under the radar for some time. She also forwarded complaints from residents who felt that the activities had caused congestion along the road.
"This was one or two years ago, and the problem was quickly resolved by the authorities (then).
"It's not like they are there every day, but only during weekends. So, this could be the reason why the activity slipped under the radar. But this is no excuse."
Lee also called on the operator to show their approval permits in black and white, if they had any.
NST wrote to the operator and was told that they were unable to provide any statements at the moment, as "advised by the authorities".
"We can, however, confirm that the accident was not caused by the cable or rope breaking."
They claimed that they were unable to take anymore bookings in Kuala Kubu Baru.
"We will be taking a two-week break from KKB. We still have jobs in other places."
The operator also received flak on social media two years ago for allowing parents to jump off the bridge while holding their children. This was apparently done without a safety harness.
The Department of Occupational Safety and Health said guidelines on the activities were not under its jurisdiction as the "rope swing" activity was neither motor-driven nor used a hoisting machine.
