JEM closed until further notice, more than 240 shops affected

[pianist]

who is the smelly owner of jem? so much for mall milking more

Thursday, Sep 19, 2013


SINGAPORE - A leak in a water-pipe led to the Wednesday night collapse of a portion of the false ceiling at JEM Shopping Mall.

According to its Facebook page on Thursday, the mall is closed "until further notice". OCBC Singapore also posted a notice on its page informing customers of the closure of its branch at the mall.

OCBC added in the post: "We’re not certain when the mall will re-open as repairs may take a few days. We’ll keep you posted!"


Three injured after ceiling at Jem mall collapses
Shoppers and workers evacuated as fire breaks out at JEM
3 hurt at FairPrice store as deep fryer catches fire

Site inspections by the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) engineers early Thursday morning revealed that there was a leak in the water-pipe and the weight of the water, which collected on the false ceiling, was a likely cause of the false ceiling collapse.

The BCA said that the structural integrity of the building is not affected.

Nevertheless, in the interest of public safety, BCA has ordered the building owner to close off the affected area and to get a professional engineer to check all the false ceilings in the mall and investigate the nature of the false ceiling collapse. The building owner has also asked its consultants to check the water pipes for any other signs of leakage.

Eye-witnesses who wrote in to citizen journalism website Stomp said that water gushed out from a pipe after the ceiling fell, causing the mall to be flooded.

One reader known as Jansen said that he was at JEM with a friend when they saw the ceiling crash to the first floor of the mall.

He said: "Thankfully no one was killed. I wonder why the ceiling collapsed and how safe the building is."

Another contributor, Ee Ming, said that flooding in shops occurred after the collapse. "One of the affected shops was Fossil," he said.

Shin Min Daily News reported that the closure affected 241 business owners.

A Japanese restaurant owner told the paper that he received a notification about the incident on Thursday morning, and managed to remove perishable food ingredients from the restaurant.

He told the Chinese daily that the restaurant is contact with the management to decide on when their business can re-open.

A manager of another restaurant at JEM said the restaurant will stand to lose about $6,000 daily.

Shin Min also reported that three women in their 30s were injured in the accident. They suffered cuts and bruises and were ferried by ambulance to the National University Hospital.

According to a spokesperson from JEM's developer Lend Lease, staff are investigating the incident and will announce the mall's re-opening once all safety measures are in place.

candicec@sph.com.sg

[Dividend Warrior]

Good for West Gate Mall?

[felixleong]

long jcube and IMM
long capitalmall?

[KopiKat]

long jcube and IMM
long capitalmall?

So... short CMT when jem reopens??

[felixleong]

SINGAPORE — JEM shopping mall, which has been beset with problems since its opening in June, will be shut indefinitely over the latest incident where a portion of the false ceiling collapsed on Wednesday night due to a burst main water pipe. Escalators and lifts were also damaged by the water.

The closure will hit the bottomline of 241 stores in the mega mall at Jurong East — the third-largest suburban mall here — including big-name retailers such as H&M, Muji, Books Kinokuniya, Victoria’s Secret, COURTS and Marche Movenpick.

Already, some of the retailers said they are seeking talks over the issue of compensation with the mall’s owner and developer, Lend Lease, which is shutting the mall down for an indefinite period as a “precautionary measure”.

Courts CEO Terry O’Connor said: “Whenever there is an incident, there is a concern over the commercial effect on our business. We do not want our customers going somewhere else.” He added that the incidents — there were two fires at the mall last month, before the ceiling collapse — were “unrelated”. “You can say it’s been a series of unfortunate events,” he said.

In a statement issued yesterday, the Building and Construction Authority (BCA) said it has ordered the building owner to close off the affected area and to get a Professional Engineer to check all the false ceilings in the mall and investigate the nature of the false ceiling collapse.

Site inspections by BCA engineers found that there was a leak in the water pipe. “The weight of the water, which collected on the false ceiling, was a likely cause of the false ceiling collapse. The structural integrity of the building is not affected,” said the BCA.

Lend Lease, an Australian developer which is also responsible for 313@Somerset and Parkway Parade, said rectification works have commenced. “As a precautionary measure to ensure the safety of the public, retailers and staff, comprehensive checks and tests are continuing.”

The centre will remain closed today “and until such time that the safety checks and tests and all rectification works are completed”, said Lend Lease, adding that it will be providing further updates.

Mr Adrin Loi, Executive Chairman of Ya Kun which has an outlet in JEM, said there should be an understanding between the landlord and tenants on the issue of compensation in situations like these. “As a rule of thumb, I think they know what to do,” he said.

Mr Eric Too, the head of retail at Handphone Shop — an authorised dealer for M1, said his company is tabulating the projected losses, including the impact on the sales staff whose salaries rely on commission. “During this time, when JEM is not open, we have to take into consideration a minimum commission for them to take home as well, because all these incidents should not affect them,” he said.

Some of the retailers, including Swensen’s, will be asking their employees to clear their annual leave during the closure.

Mr Sazali Jaafar, 45, the manager at Swensen’s, said that he also plans to temporarily redeploy some of the staff to the other outlets in VivoCity and Changi Airport Terminal 3.

H&M said that its immediate concern was the safety of its staff and customers and staff. It added that it was confident that the mall’s management will take the necessary steps to ensure the shopping centre’s safety before reopening.

An employee of a cafe who declined to be named said: “It is getting quite worrying as there are many incidences happening in such a short time. We are not sure about working here and when the next situation will happen.”

The piece of false ceiling - measuring about 50m by 4m - which collapsed on Wednesday night under the weight of water from the burst pipe caused minor injuries to three women. They received outpatient treatment.

Reiterating that the mall is structurally safe, BCA said that its site inspection found that the supporting frame for the ceiling board is intact and there are no cracks on the building’s structure. “Further investigation by BCA engineers together with the Professional Engineer... confirmed that there is no sign of structural distress,” it added.

[specuvestor]

We were just discussing on this on another thread last week:

I'm actually surprised that fixtures only have 1 year warranty. I can't believe things like falling tiles are not the contractors' liability. 5 years AT LEAST would be reasonable

http://www.valuebuddies.com/thread-263-p...l#pid61616

Seriously think BCA should tighten this up. 1 year is ridiculous

[valueinvestor]

Hope this is not another Hotel New World.
Why issued TOP in the first place ?