Some can be attributed to a "failure rate" that went with the frantic pace of development. Others, however, are less easily papered over. Buildings have been found to be crumbling soon after they are occupied; some even before they are completed. School computer labs have exemplified the latter, with the added embarrassment of the ministry concerned not having the funds in hand to make repairs. More than red faces should result from the latest discovery of structural defects in 16 schools and five colleges, most of them newly built. Some might have to be closed, one demolished.

With the Government as the developer, taxpayers will eventually have to foot the bill, not to mention the disruption caused to the affected students. Calls for the Works Minister to resign may seem misdirected and unfair, if only because he is not solely responsible for the train of events leading to the buck stopping at his desk. But that is where the buck nevertheless stops, whether he likes it or not. Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi has instructed the Public Works Department to report on the defects. Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu has undertaken to get to the bottom of the matter. If the faults are not his department’s, then he must find out whose they are. He must also find out if they were slipshod, negligent or criminal. The Works Minister echoed public opinion when he said: "Now we have to find out who the contractor is. Who is the consultant engineer?"

Such questions, if answered, will remove the scent of corruption that hangs in the air as long as the Government is slow to act. To be fair, the slowness isn’t all due to inertia or lack of will. Few contractors have ended up being sanctioned for shoddy work, mainly because it may not be worthwhile to send them into bankruptcy in a vain effort to exact compensation. Builders and developers also have considerable economic clout and are adept at minimising their exposure to risk and future liability. They are central to the Government’s earnest desire to aid small industries, which induces a reluctance to impose conditions and caveats that could put them out of business.

A slowness to act, even in the best intentions, will mean that the defective buildings in the 16 schools and five colleges won’t be the last. At the very minimum, the investigation should drive one more nail into the coffin of untendered, no-bid contracts. But should such preferences be maintained, the Government must ensure that proponents have responsible track records and, at least, will be easy to locate when things go bad.