The tragic collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok, behind the same Chinese contractors associated with the works on Novi Sad railway station, has opened new questions about the security of Chinese projects around the world. While CNN and the Telegraph are investigating the responsibility of Chinese companies in detail, Serbia has reason to follow the developments related to this case with special attention.
While the safety of the Novi Sad railway station and the responsibility of the Chinese contractors from the CRIC-CCCC consortium, led by the China Railway International Company, are still being investigated in Serbia, the new tragedy has once again raised an avalanche of questions about the safety and reliability of projects implemented by Chinese construction companies around the world. In question is the collapse of a skyscraper in Bangkok, the construction of which, according to international media, was entrusted to the company China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group - a related entity of the state corporation that also operates in Serbia.
As reported by CNN and the British Telegraph, on Friday (March 28) in Bangkok, after a strong earthquake of magnitude 7,7 in Myanmar, a 137-meter high building, planned for the headquarters of the State Audit Office of Thailand, collapsed.
The project worth more than two billion Thai baht (about 45 million pounds), built for three years, was led by a company whose actors are known to the public in Serbia - the Italian-Thai corporation Italian-Thai Development Plc and the company China Railway Number 10 (Thailand) Ltd. The latter is the local branch of the Chinese giant China Railway Number 10 Engineering Group, with a share of 49 percent, which is the maximum share of foreign companies in Thai companies, according to the Telegraph, referring to local source The Nation.
The investigation by the Thai Ministry of Industry is focused on the possible reasons for this disaster, among which are issues of the quality of the steel used, a poor construction project, as well as the possible inadequacy of the specific construction method - the so-called "flat slab" slabs, i.e. flat slabs that lie directly on the pillars, without classic supporting beams. In addition, experts point out the problem of the ground on which Bangkok rests: the soft and unstable ground could significantly increase the effects of the earthquake, writes the Telegraph.
What further strengthened the suspicion of omissions in the construction process was the deletion of all posts by China Railway Number 10 Group on Chinese social networks related to this project. CNN detailed the deletion of posts in which the company boasted of completing the building's main structure just days before the disaster. The lack of responses to media inquiries also points to possible attempts to cover up responsibility, which is of particular concern in partner countries around the world, including Serbia, where Chinese contractors have already faced safety issues in the tragic collapse of the canopy at the Novi Sad railway station.
Namely, in Novi Sad, it was precisely these Chinese partners who guaranteed the safety of passengers, while the procedure for handing over the facility, as "Time"previously announced, was marked by a series of procedural failures, which are subject to investigation.
The accident in Thailand once again opened up important questions - are construction standards and procedures rigorous and transparent enough, and what lessons can Serbia learn from such tragedies when it comes to engaging foreign companies, especially those with a large stake in the Serbian construction sector.
