Construction firm, 3 men charged over alleged lapses linked to 2022 Farrer Road sinkhole
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Roadworks along Farrer Road on Nov 16, 2022, a day after a sinkhole formed on a slip road leading from Holland Road to Farrer Road.
ST PHOTO: LIM YAOHUI
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SINGAPORE – A construction company and three men were handed 11 charges in total on Nov 21 over alleged lapses linked to a sinkhole that resulted after a part of Farrer Road collapsed in November 2022 during tunnelling works
No one was injured, but the road was closed to traffic for about a week.
Investigations by the Building and Construction Authority subsequently revealed that a tunnel boring machine was undergoing maintenance in the area when the ground in front of it destabilised.
This in turn caused a sinkhole to form on a slip road leading from Holland Road to Farrer Road on Nov 15, 2022.
The machine was excavating a tunnel for national water agency PUB’s Deep Tunnel Sewerage System Phase 2
The project was undertaken by Japanese firm Nishimatsu Construction, which was handed six charges under the Building Control Act on Nov 21, 2025.
One of the men, Kho Chza Main, 55, was handed two charges under the Act and one charge under the Building Control Regulations.
The second man, Kam Mun Wai, 58, was handed one charge under the Building Control Regulations, while the third man, Ko Luan Bock, 67, was handed a charge under the Act.
The company and the trio are accused of committing the offences in or around November 2022.
Nishimatsu is accused of failing to continuously monitor and review the key tunnelling operational parameters.
Court documents stated that it had appointed Kho as the qualified person to supervise geotechnical aspects of works involving the project. He is accused of offences including failing to properly assess the ground condition at the project site.
Nishimatsu had appointed Kam as the qualified person to prepare the plans involving geotechnical aspects relating to the project. Kam allegedly failed to assess the monitoring results and site conditions at the locations around Farrer Road.
Ko was also appointed as the qualified person by the firm, and he was tasked with supervising the structural works for tunnels linked to the project.
Ko, who faces one charge, is accused of failing to comply with certain conditions, resulting in excessive soil settlement and a road depression in the area.
The cases involving the three men and Nishimatsu have been adjourned to January 2026.
