appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Ohin Construction, its managing director and several employees were charged on Thursday over alleged lapses linked to the sinkhole that appeared in Singapore’s Tanjong Katong neighbourhood in July last year.
The company faces eight charges, mostly under the Building Control Act, Workplace Safety and Health Act and Workplace Safety and Health (General Provisions) regulations.
Its managing director, 64-year-old Ivan Ong Khiaw Yang, and six others were also charged in relation to the case.
A car fell into the sinkhole when it opened up along Tanjong Katong Road South on July 26, 2025, although the female driver was rescued by workers from a nearby construction site.
The area was near a PUB worksite where a 16m-deep shaft was being built to connect existing sewer lines.

National water agency PUB and Surbana Jurong Consultants were separately given conditional warnings under the Building Control Act.
Ohin Construction was engaged as a licensed specialist builder for ground support and stabilisation works.
It is accused of carrying out unauthorised building works, road resurfacing and specialist building works, according to a joint statement by the Building Construction Authority (BCA), the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) and the Land Transport Authority (LTA).
Ohin is also alleged to have failed to carry out mandatory tests and notify authorities of a road depression that occurred days before the sinkhole formed.
Authorities also alleged that there were false declarations over the appointment of a site supervisor.
Did not alert authorities
According to the joint statement, the construction works involved soil-strengthening works using jet-grout piles and the casting of reinforced-concrete caisson rings.
Jet grout piles are cylindrical columns of solidified soil and cement formed by injecting cement grout into the earth to strengthen the soil.
A caisson ring is a reinforced concrete structure that provides structural support for deep excavations. These rings are installed progressively as excavation deepens, to prevent soil collapse.
The company is accused of failing to ensure that the works were carried out according to approved structural plans.
It allegedly constructed jet grout piles with smaller diameters and failed to carry out the required jet grouting trial and other stipulated tests.
The firm also created additional openings in a caisson ring and horizontal grouting works at another ring that were not approved.
One of the caisson rings was allegedly cast in a non-circular shape instead of a uniformly circular one.


When the company became aware of a road depression along Tanjong Katong Road on July 15, 2025, it failed to immediately notify the Commissioner of Building Control, the charges stated.
The company is also accused of failing to take measures for the safety and health of its employees, including ensuring there was an adequate risk assessment and safe work procedure for horizontal grouting works.
Ohin Construction is also accused of failing to ensure that a video surveillance system was in good working order and operational at all times.
According to the joint statement, part of the shaft that was under construction allegedly failed at about 5.50pm on July 26, 2025, leading to soil going into the shaft. At around the same time, the sinkhole formed at Tanjong Katong Road South.
Six others were charged in relation to this case: Ohin Construction’s managing director, 64-year-old Ong Khiaw Yang Ivan; Yau Tze Yin, 49, the qualified person appointed to supervise the carrying out of structural works; Raajkumar Nadarajan, 58, the project director at the worksite near Tanjong Katong Road South; Kee Chen Siang, 39, the qualified person appointed to prepare the plans for the structural works and supervise their implementation; Sellappan Saravanakumar, 35, who was project manager at the worksite; and Senthilnathan Mathyalakan, a 56-year-old resident engineer.
Ong was handed six charges, the most among the accused persons.
A representative for Ohin Construction told the court that the company is under provisional liquidation.
The cases were adjourned to July.
Serious matter
PUB, which received a conditional warning from BCA, said it took the matter seriously.
Work on the project remains halted. For works to resume, the new project parties to be appointed by PUB would have to submit new structural plans, which would be subject to comprehensive safety assessments and approval, they added.
In response to CNA’s query, Surbana Jurong said it took the conditional warning from BCA “seriously”.
“We’re continuously working to improve our procedures for identifying and escalating any irregularities on site,” the company said. “Surbana Jurong continues to work closely with PUB to deliver the project safely and is committed to upholding the highest safety standards.”
After the incident, the affected sections of Tanjong Katong Road South were closed for about a week to allow for government agencies to stabilise the ground by backfilling the sinkhole with liquefied stabilised soil.
The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment (MSE) said last July it would convene an internal panel to investigate the cause of the sinkhole, with BCA also conducting an independent investigation into the incident.

BCA, MOM and LTA jointly said on Thursday they had completed their respective investigations into the sinkhole incident.
“BCA, MOM, and LTA take a serious view of any safety or compliance breaches that place the public at risk. This incident demonstrates the critical importance of proper supervision and adherence to safety protocols. Enforcement action will be taken against public sector agencies, companies and individuals who fail to fulfil their statutory duties,” they added.
PUB on Thursday said that it had terminated its contract with Ohin for the project. The agency also blacklisted Ohin for 18 months starting in August last year, and will not award the company any new projects during that period.
“The Ministry of Sustainability and the Environment had also earlier convened an internal investigation panel to examine the causes of the incident and make recommendations for PUB to help prevent similar incidents,” PUB said.
“The panel has recommended that PUB strengthen its processes for identifying and responding to irregularities in projects carried out by contractors, including escalating the irregularities to the relevant authorities.”
Beyond its statutory requirements, the panel also recommended that PUB reinforce the roles and responsibilities of parties involved in its construction projects, including through its regular industry engagements.
The agency said that it had since implemented the recommendations.
This article was first published by CNA


Singapore charges construction firm, boss over Tanjong Katong sinkhole lapses

Nvidia denies Latin America role in chip smuggling as US-China AI rivalry reaches Brazil

What’s behind Beijing’s seabed mapping east of Taiwan?

Singapore charges 3 men over US$18 million fake country of origin mattress scam

Singapore

A still from a social media video shows a submerged car after it fell into a sinkhole in Singapore on July 26, 2025. Photo: X/HaggerDarren

A Mazda plunges into a sinkhole along Tanjong Katong Road South in Singapore on July 26, 2025. Photo: Handout

A PUB vehicle responds to a flood in Singapore. Photo: Facebook/PUB

What does Singapore lose when the wrecking ball swings?

Murals adorn a wall at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace in Singapore. Photo: Kolette Lim

Singapore’s skyline is seen in the background as people paddleboard in the sea off East Coast Park. Photo: AFP

People relax at a beach at East Coast Park in Singapore. Photo: AFP

People walk and cycle past Jumbo seafood restaurant in Singapore’s East Coast Park. Photo: Kolette Lim

Horse racing at Singapore Turf Club, as known as Kranji Racecourse, in 2019. Photo: Kenneth Chan

Olivia Fones, director of arts studio Arterly Obsessed at 195 Pearl’s Hill Terrace. Photo: Kolette Lim

Gillman Barracks, a leafy compound of low, white colonial-era buildings that once housed British Army regiments, now shelters a dozen art galleries, cafes and bars. Photo: Handout

Singapore’s ban on anti-Indian posts exposes threat of race ‘weaponisation’

People stand next to the Merlion statue at the Marina Bay Waterfront Promenade in Singapore. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong and Zakir Hussain, vice-president, Singapore Press Club, at the Singapore Press Club Eminent Speaker Series on Monday. Wong spoke about the ban on anti-Indian social media posts at the event. Photo: Singapore Press Club

A view of the Little India Arcade in Singapore. Photo: Roy Issa

Singapore PM Lawrence Wong to visit Russia’s Kazan, first since Ukraine war sanctions

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong listens to the keynote speech at the IISS Shangri-la Dialogue security summit in Singapore last month. Photo: Reuters

Singapore’s Foreign Affairs Minister Vivian Balakrishnan speaks at the UN General Assembly in the UN headquarters in New York in 2025. Photo: EPA

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov attends a press conference in Moscow in April. He spoke with Manila in May on the prospects of expanding ties between Russia and Asean. Photo: Maxim Shipenkov/Pool/Reuters

Singapore eyes Asean connectivity amid new US-China dynamic: Lawrence Wong

Southeast Asian leaders at the Asean summit in Cebu on May 8. Photo: Pool via Reuters

Singapore’s Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (left) and Zakir Hussain, vice-president of the Singapore Press Club, at the Singapore Press Club Eminent Speaker Series on Monday. Photo: Singapore Press Club

People walk during lunch time at the financial business district of Raffles Place in Singapore on May 19. The city state is battling low birth rates and an ageing citizen workforce. Photo: AFP

Singapore’s Pritam Singh is facing cracks in his party. What does this say about the opposition?

Pritam Singh, Workers’ Party secretary general, during the general election in Singapore in May last year. Photo: Reuters

Workers’ Party chief Pritam Singh leaves the Supreme Court after his appeal against his conviction was dismissed in Singapore on December 4, 2025. Photo: Reuters

Workers’ Party member Yee Jenn Jong, who has run in four elections and filled a non-constituency MP seat. Photo: Nick Tan

Workers’ Party secretary general Pritam Singh (centre) and party members during the general election in Singapore on May 3, 2025. Photo: AFP

Pritam Singh and Low Thia Khiang in 2020. Singh took over the post of secretary general from Low in 2018. Photo: EPA-EFE

Workers’ Party supporters during a rally ahead of the general election in Singapore in May 2025. Photo: Reuters

News

Asia

Southeast Asia

Ohin Construction’s building works allegedly caused a sinkhole to open up along Tanjong Katong Road South last July, swallowing a car


Ohin Construction’s building works allegedly caused a sinkhole to open up along Tanjong Katong Road South last July, swallowing a car.


Crime

Singapore charges construction firm, boss over Tanjong Katong sinkhole lapses

.css-1c6uqr6{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;overflow-wrap:break-word;}Ohin Construction’s building works allegedly caused a sinkhole to open up along Tanjong Katong Road South last July, swallowing a car

Ohin Construction’s building works allegedly caused a sinkhole to open up along Tanjong Katong Road South last July, swallowing a car