Deceased's family mulls action against council

Deceased's family mulls action against council THE family of a painter who was killed when a lamp casing fell off a lamp post and hit him in Johor Baru last Friday is not happy with the explanation given by the city council, which had blamed the accident on a "strong wind". In the incident, Wong Fook Man, 41, died on the spot when the 4kg lamp casing struck him on the head on Jalan Sutera at 1.15am. Wong's kin do not believe it was an act of God and would get details from the weathermen if indeed there was strong wind in the area at the time. Wong's brother, Thien Lai, 45, told China Press on Wednesday that if the Malay sian Meteorological Services (MMS) can prove that there was no strong wind at the time, the family will sue the Johor Baru City Council. He said the family is looking at the matter seriously as it believed the city council is trying to absolve itself of any responsibility over the incident. However, he said he will find out more from the city council before resorting to legal action. Thien Lai said even if the MMS's records showed that there was indeed strong wind at the material time, he will still seek other opinions to find out what possible action he can take. Following its report on Tuesday that the city council had put the blame on a strong wind, the daily received many calls from readers to express their disbelief over the council's explanation. Some of the readers said if the casing is firmly attached to the lamp post, even strong winds would not have caused the casing to fall off. Meanwhile, Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman openly criticised the city council and mayor. Clearly upset over the incident, Abdul Ghani told Datuk Bandar Datuk Wahid Dahlan it should not have happened. He said he hoped it was not because of negligence on the part of those responsible for street lamps in the city, which would be the city council and Tenaga National Bhd. Apart from conveying his sympathies and condolences to the family, he said the family of Wong could make a public liability insurance claim against the city council.