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Connected politically or not means squat if you build a structure that collapses killing hundreds of people. At least I hope that is the case in any place under
by dba7dba 8y ago
Connected politically or not means squat if you build a structure that collapses killing hundreds of people. At least I hope that is the case in any place under rule of law. Of course I would hate to see any kind of building failure that causes mass casualty. But are the execs of Meriton aware of such possibility?
I am reminded of the Sampoong Department Store collapse in Seoul, Korea. This happened in 1995. This was a very high end department store from what I heard. I know acquaintances who know of a family that lost multiple family members.
The family that owned the building was one of those chae-bul family in S. Korea with multiple business interests. I believe in top 50 at the time or something like it. So yes they were politically connected. But because of the catastrophic failure of the building with mass casualty, the family's entire holding was liquidated to pay for compensation to the victims' families. And the owner/owner's son both served lengthy prison terms.
Edit: While reading up on Sampoong incident, I learned the owner wanted original construction firm to take shortcuts to reduce cost, but they refused. So the owner fired the firm and started HIS OWN construction firm to build the building. At least someone had a backbone, stuck to what was right, and lost a big job/contract, but was proved to be in the right. I bet someone at the original construction firm let out a huge sigh of relief later.
- incompatible 8y agoAny problems regarding Meriton don't seem to be well documented. The only issue on its Wikipedia page is a fine for manipulating TripAdvisor reviews.
- danieltillett 8y agoI did say they were very well connected ;)
- danieltillett 8y agoYes when your buildings collapse you will find you have problems bigger than your political friends can help you with. Meriton is competent enough to put up buildings that won’t fall down on their own.
- Intermernet 8y agoHave a look at the James Hardie Industries case to see how large Australian companies avoid legal consequences for killing large numbers of people. "The total number of past and future claims made against James Hardie for asbestos-related diseases is estimated to be more than 12,500, of which 8103 will be claimed after 2006."[1] [1]:https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hardie_Industries https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hardie_Industries
- fyfy18 8y ago> Connected politically or not means squat if you build a structure that collapses killing hundreds of people. At least I hope that is the case in any place under rule of law. I wouldn't count on that. 18 months later there have still been no prosecutions (or even open court cases AFAIK) regarding the Grenfell Tower disaster. It'll most likely be years or decades before that happens. If it turns out this was caused by someone being negligent, they will continue endangering the lives of other people until that happens.
- pas 8y agoNo case against the government/council? It was the fucking lack of regulation.