"Omission of Safety Management Costs at Gukhoe-daero Underpass Construction Site, Irresponsible Supervision"

Seoul City Councilor Park Sang-gu Criticizes "Should Safety Management Costs Be Reflected from Design Stage? Who Listened to Citizens' Hardships During the Two-Year Delay in Reporting Usage Plan After Construction Start?"

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] Park Sang-gu, a member of the Seoul Metropolitan Council's Urban Safety and Construction Committee (Democratic Party, Gangseo 1), pointed out during the administrative audit of the Urban Infrastructure Headquarters held on the 11th that "the safety management costs necessary for construction safety management should be reflected from the design stage according to the 'Construction Technology Promotion Act' and confirmed when signing contracts with construction companies. However, in the 'Gukhoe-daero Underground Road and Upper Park Project,' safety management costs were omitted and only discovered after two years."

He also said, "This site reported the safety management cost usage plan only in June of this year, two years after construction began in August 2018, raising doubts about whether safety management was properly implemented during the two years when safety management costs were not reflected."

Councilor Park stated, "This site has a daily traffic volume of 190,000 vehicles, and considering the site conditions, safety management costs should have been actively reflected. However, most items such as the cost for preparing and reviewing safety management plans, measures to prevent damage to surrounding buildings caused by blasting and excavation during construction, traffic safety management costs around the construction site, and costs necessary to verify the structural safety of temporary structures were not reflected."

He continued, "As a result, there were numerous complaints about cracks appearing on the exterior walls of nearby buildings. If the construction company had properly managed safety, would such incidents have occurred?" he criticized.

He criticized, "According to the Construction Technology Promotion Act, if the necessary amount for safety management costs is not calculated, a fine of up to 10 million KRW can be imposed. Who bears the burden of this fine? Even though cracks have appeared on the floors of nearby buildings due to blasting and citizens are suffering, they are neglecting the situation."

He also scolded, "Neglecting the site properly, omitting safety management costs, and ignoring the issue is a prime example of Seoul City's desk-bound administration," and pointed out, "Despite 'safety' being a priority for the government and Seoul City amid COVID-19, the complacent attitude of the responsible department that does not prioritize safety is a typical example of welfare inertia administration."

Regarding this, Councilor Park demanded, "The fact that safety management costs were omitted from the initial design and discovered after a long time shows the irresponsibility of the supervisory agency called the 'Urban Infrastructure Headquarters.' I hope a full investigation is conducted to check whether other sites also have omissions, followed by a report and measures to ensure that safety management costs are not omitted in the future."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.