Coroner’s court hears about failures in case of boy, 17, who died after basketball frame fell on him

These included renovation works for basketball courts within several blocks in Bedok, requiring reconstruction of the courts.

The tender was awarded to TMS Alliances in June 2019 through an open tender by ECTC.

The contractor outsourced the installation to KAF Resources.

When the basketball structure was first delivered to Singapore from Malaysia in January 2020, no welding marks or damage were found on it.

The ground was excavated by TMS Alliances workers and the basketball structure was completed in April 2020, with visual checks done by TMS Alliances and the town council.

According to TMS Alliances, as everything was in order, it did a handover to the town council and removed the barricades around the basketball court, providing public access to it.

However, the town council disputed the handover, saying the site was still under the purview of TMS Alliances, as not all the works for the basketball courts in the project had been completed.

When the town council received noise complaints about the use of the basketball court, it routed them to KAF resources. Its workers then poured either sand or cement into the hollow pole from the top of the basketball structure.

However, they could not recall if they poured the material into both poles or just one.

Between January and July 2021, inspections were done on the basketball court, including six in July 2021 before the incident.

NO PROFESSIONAL ENGINEER

According to the contract, the reconstruction was to be completed with a design endorsed by a professional engineer to ensure the basketball court was safe and suitable for use.

However, the project manager from TMS Alliances was not aware that a professional engineer was needed. So the company did not hire one, and also did not ensure that its subcontractor, KAF Resources, engaged a professional engineer.

The director of KAF Resources recounted a similar incident with a similar basketball structure in March 2020, where checks by workers revealed signs of instability.

The structure was also supplied by Velocity Sports Equipment. The director reached out to Velocity.

Although other similar projects in Singapore showed better stability, a decision was made not to change the structure, because the owner of Velocity said it was “normal” as the post was made of aluminium.

The investigation officer said that a professional engineer would have ensured that the basketball frame and design were safe for use.

The engineer would also advise on where welding should be done, if welding was required on the basketball post.

State Coroner Adam Nakhoda stressed that no contributory cause can be ascribed to the players in this case, as they were playing in a manner that is expected with basketball, and if the frame had been manufactured and installed correctly, it should “never fail”.

He asked the investigation officer if checks have been made on the other basketball courts that underwent the renovation works, to establish that they were installed safely.

The investigation officer responded that she was not sure if checks had been made after the accident, and was told to check on this.

The coroner also asked her to check on what has happened to the other basketball court, where there was feedback on stability issues, and other frames supplied by Velocity, as well as to check with the Building and Construction Authority on what the role of a professional engineer is.

The coroner did not give his findings. He adjourned the hearing to Nov 27 pending the further checks by the investigation officer.

At the time of the incident in 2021, the ECTC posted a statement on Facebook saying it was deeply saddened by news of the unfortunate incident.

At the time, the town council said it had closed the basketball court to conduct a thorough check on the integrity of all the structures there, and that it was cooperating with police investigations.