Zambry: Stop blaming teachers for bridge collapse tragedy

Perak Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir has urged the public to stop blaming the teachers for the Kuala Dipang bridge tragedy and, instead, give them due respect for their efforts in the rescue.

He told a press conference after meeting with 45 teachers at the State Secretariat here today that many of the teachers were still traumatised from the incident and were finding it hard to resume their daily duties.

“No one wanted the tragedy to happen. And when it did, the teachers fought very hard, without giving any second thought to their own lives and their own safety, in order to save the children.

“We must not forget their efforts and we should give them the recognition they deserve,” said Zambry.

He added that some of the teachers were currently undergoing counselling as they were unable to forget the nightmare that took place on the night of Oct 26.

“Because of this incident, many of the teachers were forced to live with the memory of what happened. And they are still traumatised by it because many of them were quite close to their students,” said Zambry.

In the tragedy, three young schoolgirls drowned after falling into the raging waters of the Kampar river when the bridge they were crossing uprooted and collapsed.

The three girls were among a group of 298 students who were participants in a 1 Malaysia unity camp held at the district education department’s co-curriculum centre in Kuala Dipang, Kampar.

Nineteen other students also fell into the river but were successfully rescued.

Zambry said that following the incident, many people pinned the blame on the teachers and said that it had been their responsibility to ensure the safety of the students.

“We are not here to point fingers and blame people or to accuse people of things. This is also not about gaining popularity.

“Do not misconstrue this to mean that I am condoning whatever happened. We want to find those responsible and we want action to be taken but, at the same time, I would like to call on all quarters to also give respect to the teachers,” he said.

Zambry recalled the night of the incident when he met with one particular teacher, whom he named as “Cikgu Sabri”, who had been a key figure in the search and rescue efforts.

“He was drenched from head to foot and shaking so badly with fear over what had happened to the students.

“This one man alone managed to save at least five to seven students. We must not forget his sacrifice,” said Zambry.

He said that he had summoned the group of teachers for a meeting with him today in order to give them a pep talk and boost their morale and spirits.

“I hope that they will be able to resume their duties as educators of our children, despite this tragedy,” he said.

In the meantime, Zambry added, the government would take necessary action against those who should be held responsible for the tragedy.

“The report by the special committee has already been completed and submitted, with recommendations, to the Education Ministry. Appropriate action will soon be taken,” he said.

He added that he hoped the government would also look into fine-tuning the procedures or guidelines on camps such as the 1 Malaysia unity programme to ensure that the safety of the students were protected at all times.

“I am a father, too, and I do not want my children to be subjected to such incidents,” he said.

Besides the report from the special committee formed by the Education Committee after the incident, the Pakatan Rakyat has also prepared its own report which holds the Perak Education Department’s Co-Curriculum Centre responsible for the entire incident.

The parents of the three schoolchildren have also filed a RM105mil suit against the parties they claim were responsible for the incident.


comments

Don't divert attention. It is some contractor's fault and they are engaged by some State level Education Ministry people. What has it got to do with the teachers? But the teachers are the victims. If you are open enough, reveal the contractor and the Education Ministry officer who ordered the construction of the bridge!

Stop being a small hero for some teachers! They do not need you to talk nonsense.

Then who should be responsible for the dead of the childrens. If one of the kid is your child zambry will you accept it as "takdir" and forget about it. Those responsible should be punished and let it be a lesson for the rest in the future. Immaterial wheather its teacher or headmaster or politician,etc. Zambry think before you talk. We are talking about lives.

he or come out with the idea of sending teachers and children to 'death traps' should be the one who should be hukum to hang !!! in china, this person will be shot publicly !!!

How can people trust someone who is without principles and integrity? You should bear full responsibility for this incident and quit for good. Just how many months have you been running this illegal gomen and such a disaster happen. Get out!!!

If BN thinks the teachers are not partly responsible and should not be blame, then I think the MB himself should resign. He is the top man in Perak and if such a careless oversight by his subordinates had taken the lifes of 3 innocent young children, then he should be held fully responsible.

Don't push the buck to mother nature and don't challenge the suit by the parents of the 3. Why suggest safety measures after the incident? Don't you think this ought to have been carefully studied before you launch any programmes involving the rakyat? Don't you think the BN controlled local councils are equally responsible for not doing their job efficiently?

Are the local councils controlled by the BN sleeping most of the time?
If we rakyat can take a back seat and recall, never had the authorities take a serious view of any defects and only decides to make amends after fatalities arises. The authorities are always non-committal in their responsibilities and are always waiting for some accidents to happen before taking a serious view after that. Come on you fellas just admit this. It is happening every other day in the full view of the rakyat.

And I plead, " don't make us scapegoats for your selfish means". By all means, please compensate the parents for the loss of their loved ones and stop being a hero for donating large sums of money to other nationalities inflicted by mother nature. Our rakyat deserves more.

the fault lies solely with the corrupt contractor and officials who built and certified the bridge!!
Who is the contractor?
Who were the engineers who certified the bridge?
why have there been no investigations, arrests and charges!!
Three lives have been lost and somebody must answer!