Risky river project

Needless haste is taking precious lives of workers

Fatal accidents inevitably occur from time to time at construction sites. But the latest series of deaths along the nation’s four largest rivers is especially distressing as they could have been avoided had the government not pressed contractors hard to meet the literally deadly schedule.

An excavator driver was killed Monday after being hit by a dump truck at a construction site near the Geum River Monday. The incident followed two deaths Saturday when a concrete structure collapsed at a site along the Nakdong River. On Friday, another scraper operator lost his life while dredging the riverbed at a neighboring site.

So the government’s project to rebuild the four major rivers saw four deaths in as many days, with a total of 11 this year alone. Were they avoidable? Yes, if the contractors worked at a ``normal” speed.

The unnecessary sacrifices are mainly due to the government’s push to complete the major portions of the so-called Four-River Refurbishment Project by June 30 before the monsoon season starts. According to Rep. Ahn Hong-joon of the Grand National Party, out of the 154 work sites, only two have kept the legal eight-hour-a-day work rule with workers at the other 152 toiling between 10 to 17 hours a day. And they have been following this 24-hour, two-shift schedule for nearly 20 months since August 2009.

It would be strange if the workers maintained their attentiveness amid such accumulated fatigue. Even more astonishing was a report by Rep. Kang Ki-kab of the Democratic Labor Party, which shows the death rate among industrial disaster victims of the four-river project stood at a hefty 37.5 percent, nearly 14 times higher than the average mortality rate at construction site of 2.7 percent. Most heartbreaking is few people except probably for their relatives, are paying attention to their deaths.

This tragedy could be foreseen since the government sped up the construction pace to finish dredging works and building dikes by the first half of this year. Officials have reportedly introduced an incentive system to drive contractors into a ``speed war” of overnight work, while neglecting proper safety measures. The labor and construction ministries must conduct strict supervision over the labor conditions of work sites and punish violators right away. They also should see that proper compensation is paid to the victims of unreasonable schedules.

President Lee Myung-bak, who was once CEO of the nation’s largest building company known for super-speed construction, recently said, ``Although there are many complaints about the project, people will be nodding their assent when it is finished this fall.” And the President might be hoping the large artificial dams, up-to-date waterfronts and national networks of bike trails will work to the advantage of the governing party in two major elections next year.

Lee must know, however, that voters are wondering when they will be able to have a president who can create a ``new” economic engine other than the timeworn construction and engineering projects.