PENGARAH JABATAN KERJA RAYA NEGERI KELANTAN

On the court record

A state public-works authority litigating tort claims over road hazards and public-works nuisance, shielded in part by the special limitation protection of the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948.

Pengarah Jabatan Kerja Raya Negeri Kelantan (the Director of the Kelantan Public Works Department) is a state public-works authority, and it appears in the corpus as a defendant or respondent in tort litigation arising from public infrastructure — road accidents, road hazards and nuisance connected to public works. The matters are largely Malay-language appeals in the High Court.

Liability for road hazards is the recurring theme. In consolidated Sessions Court appeals over a damages claim arising from a vehicle said to have fallen into a rain-covered pothole, the court found that the plaintiff had "gagal membuktikan wujudnya lubang" (failed to prove the existence of the pothole) beyond patch marks on the road surface. In another road-accident appeal the Sessions Court had apportioned liability at 25 per cent to the plaintiff and 75 per cent to the defendant, allowing a claim for indemnity against a third party to the extent of 25 per cent, the cause of action resting on the alleged negligence of the defendant in the maintenance or condition of the road.

Nuisance and the statutory protection of public authorities also feature. In a Malay-language appeal the court held that mere personal inconvenience — "mere personal inconvenience" — was insufficient to found a claim in public nuisance arising from a federal-government bridge-building project. The authority was also the moving party in a striking-out under Order 18 rule 19(1)(b) and (d) of the Rules of Court 2012, contending that the plaintiffs had no cause of action against it and that the claim was time-barred, engaging the Public Authorities Protection Act 1948. The Director's footprint is that of a state public-works body answering for harm connected to the roads and infrastructure it maintains, with the courts weighing the sufficiency of the claimant's proof and the special limitation protection that shields public authorities from stale claims.