ground treatment with surcharge

Back to my last poject with my second company in Kerteh.

I arrive at this project at early stage when site clearing and part of railway track start doing ground treatment works.

Many ground treatment design for this project since the track running at many soft gound area.

This photo was taken near site which w are doing ground treatment works. There also an electrical pylon which yet to relocate. Excavator still removing top soil while front part we already lay geotextile and sand blanket.

This location is at section after Kerteh river  near road to kerteh airport.
The treatment was just to remove top soft layer and laying geotextile separator. After sandfilling completed, earthfill  was carried out until surcharge level and leave for six month for settlement monitoring.
Base on settlement reading, geotechnical engineer will decide weather to continue surcharge time or surcharge can be remove.

Talk about geotechnical, here i had to deal with expert from India Dr Karibasapa. Since there are so many discrepencies between design and site condition, we had  proposed for trial pit to recomfirm design or decide depth or changing of treatment type specified. it was very troublesome since the stretch are about 30 kilometre and some not accessibly by jeep or car. we had to depend on excavator track to be at actual site.
I learn a lot about geotech here but not many photos taken. At that time handphone with camera was not available compare like today.

why i am here

This photo was taken during my travel to terengganu few years ago. We stop at small town near oil industry area, Paka.

Amazingly this red pili for fire brigade was in the middle of acess and  parking area with yellow marking. That was very poor coordination of design, construction and compliance to authority.

How is it end-up like this? Its trully puzzle me as construction man and looks like now been accepted by everybody or people already tired to complaint.

Just for guessing, it might be after parking widening done, owner of the red pili didnt come to relocate. Relocation was not on original plan or contract.

Next question, how come designer left this in the middle of acess road without relocate it? Its impossible they didint notice before work start.

Looks like it will be like this forever.

Sadly that's happened in Malaysia and nobody bother.

where is your measurement tape?

This is also my favourite photo on what sometimes can happened at site especially when our engineer or supervisor dont use their brain to think.

We first seen this photo at meeting with our client  and it appear during their presentation. Eventhough they didnt mentioned from where and which concession  company but i can recognize from shirt that the guy wear.
My bos and i got mad with again our head of state Negeri Sembilan for his brainless staff. Poor Hj Razak got screw for nothing.

Listen from their explaination later was more sickfull.

According to them during visit from client at site to check defects of roads, they want to measure deppression of undulating section of pavement near the shoulder. Since nobody bring together measurement tape, one of client ask our supervisor to get small piece of tree branch to put like photo above. Nobody thought that it will be big issue later.
people who see this picture will interprate many things like why dont bring tape? why supervisor dont bring together measurement tape? how the measure any distance etc.
A lot of question mark on the supervisor or site engineer at site.

Worst part for me are why must  follow stupid instruction?

Illegal workers

This event finally happened after i had been more than twenty years  in construction industry.

i never been caught in any case involved foreign workers before but here because only one women from indonesia come to malaysia with visit visa to meet her husband and quietly working with one of my sub contractor.  my team also lack of monitoring at site and resulted that i almost sleep in jail.

this rushing by imegresen trigger when one of our vietnam workers go out and do part time repair house in town and have fight with local people and he' visa not fully completed.

i had bad time to explain to officer which take more that six hours.

Case was resolve later but i still got warning letter from department for let them work and protect at site.

road marking

i never expect a mistake from simple road marking work.
neither i came across of mistake like this during my twenty years of woking.

i dont know how to describe how poor my supervisor or engineer when i see this during one of my site visit. The only thing come to my mind are quickly take photo for evidence and immediately bombard our head of state of  maintainance team and get them to immediately repair before our client notice.

this is an example how poor or no proper supervision will lead to bad outcome of work. i am very sure that our supervisor here didint event bother to monitor the work. he just tell our workers to carry out the work without given correct instruction and the workers that had no brain just draw the line without thinking to match the line with the existing one.

i dont want to listen to my team explaination on this case i as i told they are lucky not to be sack by me.

Becoming freelancer

I left construction as contractor after 22 years.

Initially i plan to have full exit of construction but its not that easy. once a contractor, looks like forever will be contractor. My attemp to be site consultant also not succesfull as one of bos consultant say i was over qualified due to age and no professional engineer.

After few months taking care of my wife, i had oppurtunity to be as project advisor on freelance basis. Work on four days a week at  one of road and bridge project in sepang. Unfortunately that project was  heavily sick  and already almost end of the  extension of time no 1.

I had difficulty to rescue this one due to no financial and bad construction team at site. things started moves well on the first month after wa had review some programme and method of work but after second month things become difficult due to no payment to sub contractors and suppliers.

In short it was failure of planning and monitoring of both financial and construction.
 i will share later on why some projects delayed or failed.

Then the project gone from bad to worse. it had been terminated. attempt to meet higher officer also failed and later we had to sue the project owner and my service ended after court granted to hold any action from bank until legal settle.

after two months break, i had new oppurnity to work on tendering for new highway projects.

becoming chief

I reach peak of my carrier here.

i never expect this. No matter what people will say about my performance later, i still proud to be there for three years and completed few assigments.

Game was very different at top  and politics had been more that technical. every move and decision that we made, there will be different opinion and evaluation. tough part was i had to rescue again our major projects after few senior staff was fired. to juggle both was not easy. after things settle down, my right hand man was required at other group. eventhough consent given later by me but i still believe the was an agenda against me. but thats the life at top. fighting against tide also will made us tired. agreed everything also will stress us. the best thing is concentrate what we do and finish off as quickly as possible.

i am not ready to write all my experiance here but after complete the biggest job that we have, i decided to take leave and if possible left the group.
Later after almost fourteen years in the group i decided to leave for reason only i know .   i never share with anybody but my trust with the group had gone forever.

My new life as freelance begin after this exit.

ayer keroh melaka

after Bosnia which me give different experiance, i move to new area in ayer keroh, melaka.

This group is not new to me as its also within our circle before. but they not involve in construction projects. They core bussiness are doing maintainance of road. I and my team  also had few bad experiance with some of them earlier especially when we become subcontractor to construct bridge which damage during big flood. Being internal contractor its like working with a monster. Almost everything is wrong and not good. But we manage to complete on time but still being branded as slow and late. Thats how people treat fellow collage in the same organization without realise that one day things might change. True enough  later i  been  there and even worse is i become their number two bos. Some people at managerial level which previously handle the job sometimes come and see me and comments few new things that i implement.

Office was at ayer keroh, melaka. like the place name 'keroh' that was the situation there.
Their name outside within contractor circle was very bad. late payment and poor management.
Lastly before i arrive, client give very poor rating  and i need to change fast without realise that successful was a disaster for me on later stage. i was there less that two years. just to improve image and PR, change some method of maintainance, revive morale of operation staff which was at very low, no motivation and main  thing change client rating and perspective. Client  bos very difficult and a task master. no compromise on any failure. even on first meeting with him, i feel it was a mistake to accept this assigment.
To make matter worst, my own bos also very difficult. Few of his lieutenant was also tricky. later he left with words that makes me motivated. he says, you will never get five star !!!!!!!
Together with new bos, Mr Eagle and few staff which sideline earlier,  we manage to change everything and get team back to normal and later manage to get five star from client. Client bos also became good friend.
This new success create another new enemy sincemany thought that i will failed. You will never known who and i never saw its coming to break partnership between my bos and me to avoid we become stronger. reality thats life in coorporate world.
During negotiation on extension contract,  i had another urgent call for new assigment.
As usual story look nice, back to Kl and bla..bla..bla.... And i knew this time i will be in area which not many survived.
but due to my hajj which i expected the followings year, i accept the job.

live and work in Bosnia

i only know about Bosnia when its  with federation of  Yugoslavia which now not exist anymore.
about its communist ideologies, have good sports and football team with some name like muslim. also  contractor which have some projects in malaysia and famous leader name Aliya Izetbegovic.
when war broke down, only its was very clear where and what is Bosnia is about.

i never image that this country was so beautiful.

but i came at wrong time. not war but my company and project  has tricky tussle  with contractor there. their manipulation was extreme and beyond my imigination. worst part was how this happened without notice.
when i start interview the sub-contractors and discover many things that had been done, i thought locals take chance to sucks all the fund that available with so many ways. maybe post war people was so desperate to survived and purposely forget about ethics. our main contractor was so notorius eventhough they looks capable to complete the job. they also have own machinery and equipments for the project and have few good technical staff.
when contract been terminated and enter legal battle, i dont have much reason to stay longer and decided to end after six month as my original plan.

anyway during my stays there, i had very good friend from consultant. he is good technically as consultant, very religiuos and committed to islam. we still communicate until now eventhough his english was not good and forget already all simple bosnian language which smilliar to russian.

bosnia.....here i come

one day i had been called to head office by deputy big boss and give me bomb.

big boss required you in Bosnia. Urgent. 

later i know my future bos put my name foward and approved. only waiting for me to comfirm.

when i ask, how long? he says, not sure. but package to be there as usual...bla..bla..bla......which i had not interested to hear because the oversea package offer was not attractive at all. the person who create and approved that package looks like dont know or dont have feeling  or never been as an professional expatriate. they minset only thinking about less money to be paid and not about people who sacrified to save and protect company interest.

frankly i am not thinking about package but again why me. after few minutes, i think it was destiny for me to be there for reason that only god knows.

but i give a try to be there for reason that i keep to myself only.

then i say, if you cannot tell me how long, let me tell you since ticket provided only after six month, i will be there for six month only if you can give me letter tommorow.  i know before this that they cannot give any black and white within one day  but bacause of desperation the handed me the letter the next day. actually i just want to avoid them talk verbally then after we agree, they always forget and we had to chase them for   official.

with the letter, i can request money to start buying winter clothing since temperature there minus 5 degree.

i left KLIA airport then transit at bangkok before leaving to vianna, austria. at vianna i had to wait for few hours to  change plane to sarajevo.    my new bos had been at airport waiting for me and take me to fuad muhija road at small town Ilidza near our project development site. 

another  malaysian guys that had come earlier stay in that house together with me. but he is planning to be back to malaysia soon.

i stay in this house for next six month to experiance life culture and most important how construction in Bosnia.

below one of my earlist article in my other blog which i created when i was in Bosnia.

setahun sudah berlalu II

pada saat ini setahun yang lalu aku dah lepas dari KLIA ke bangkok dan sekarang berada di atas kapal ke vianna, austria.

puak imegresen siam buat hal periksa aku lama-lama. entah apa yang tak puas hati. aku cakap siam baru tau.



pertama kali aku berada atas kapal lama-lama.sebelum ni ke delhi tak la sampai enam jam tapi kali ni mau berbelas jam.

rupanya dalam penerbangan ni ramai orang vietnam yang nak ke sebelah eropah sana. seorang mamat yang aku tanya, dia dah kerja di sana dan kali bawa anak bini pergi sana.

seorang melayu pun tak ada.terkial-kial la aku sorang tapi peduli apa......



sampai di vienna, cuaca sangat sejuk. nak keluar pun tak tau.lagipun aku dah terlepas tempat keluar.dah tak tau macamana nak pusing balik lagi. terpaksalah tunggu empat jam sebelum ke sarajevo.

tidur aja kat bangku dan nak makan pun tak lalu. sempat juga buka lap top. ada wifi situ.

cuaca kat luar makin sejuk.

keesokannya aku berlepas ke sarajevo dengan austrian air. sampai sana pagi dan bos aku tn hj bad dah menunggu.
suhu disitu masa tu -5 darjah. kali pertama sejuk gila-gila macam ni.

selepas tu aku terus ke pejabat dan kemudian ke rumah di peyton, ilidza yang aku akan tinggal selepas ini selama enam bulan. buat masa ni brader kamali masih ada dan belum balik lagi.

bermulalah episod baru di negara balkan bekas kesatuan yugoslavia, bosnia herzegovina yang banyak kenangan walaupun selama enam bulan saja........