Distressed residents confront Opal Tower builder after being forced to leave again

As hundreds of “shell-shocked” Sydney residents wonder how they’ll spend the next ten days without a home, serious questions are being asked.

As hundreds of “shell-shocked” Sydney residents wonder how they’ll spend the next ten days without a home, serious questions are being asked of the state premier.

State opposition leader Michael Daley returned to the crumbling Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park to ask why Gladys Berejiklian and her planning minister haven’t visited.

“Families are shell-shocked,” he said. “What’s it come to in Sydney in the 21st century when people are saying they feel unsafe in their homes? Some bloke knocks on their door and tells you to get out of your house.

“There’s been more questions than answers. This is not good enough.”

Mr Daley called on the Premier again to send a government representative out to co-ordinate what’s happening with the residents.

Michael Daley speaking to Opal Tower residents.

His comments come as around 300 residents have been told they’ll see in the new year without a home after being forced to evacuate their apartments for the second time in four days.

Confused and demanding answers, some of the 300 evacuees descended on a heated press conference yesterday and confronted the builders of their crumbling 36-storey tower — with one resident bleakly telling them that “everyone is scared” for their safety.

One woman crashed the media conference and asked Icon director Julian Doyle how long the investigation process was going to take.

Builders now need to smash open walls in the 36-storey building. Picture: AAP Image/Mick Tsikas

“You ask us to move back now you ask us to evacuate again,” she said.

“The accommodation (you provided) is terrible (compared) to our apartments, which we pay for.

“All of us with pets, we have valuable things in our apartments, you ask us to move all the valuable things with us — it’s impossible.

“Nobody is responsible for anything, if it goes missing in our apartments, any compensation.

“Nobody has mentioned anything and I’m asking why. How long should we wait for final results and can we have some fair treatment in the end?”

Mr Doyle said they had spoken to residents and apologised for what they were going through.

Guy Templeton, from the engineering support team, said they needed access to the whole building to investigate the issue on level 10.

“Clearly it’s paramount the structure is fully sound, which it is, but we need to be able to get access so that specialist engineers can work right through the building,” he said.

“Some panels may need to be removed, there may need to be some concrete may require testing.”

The woman confronts builders in the press conference.

She is then seen in the foyer with her dog.

Resident Desla Daryaei said the incident had taken an emotional toll.

“I’ve had to pay $40 just for breakfast at a hotel, I don’t have half of my belongings and even my real estate agent didn’t know what was happening until he saw the news a few days ago,” she told The Daily Telegraph. “Of course I’m scared, everyone is scared.”

Residents have been told to leave for a second time in four days so a thorough investigation can start.

The “comprehensive investigation” will look at the crack on the 10th floor of building in Olympic Park.

In a statement released before the conference, the Icon said all residents were being “being progressively relocated” over the next 24 hours.

They could be locked out of their units for as long as 10 days.

“Icon confirms the building is structurally sound and the temporary relocation is a precautionary measure to allow engineers to work around the clock to investigate and remediate the site in the quickest time possible, without further disruption to residents,” a spokeswoman said.

“Accommodation is being secured for all affected residents at nearby hotels and compensation will also be provided by Icon.”

They said residents were being briefed by Icon at a meeting today at the local community centre.

“The damaged section of the building has now been reinforced as a precautionary measure while a team of engineers carries out the investigation,” the spokeswoman said.

“The thorough investigation is being led by global engineering firm WSP, with assistance from senior engineers from Kajima Corporation, one of Japan’s largest construction companies and majority owner of Icon.”

Two specialist investigators have been appointed by the NSW government to lead an inquiry into what went wrong at Opal Tower.

MORE: Crumbling building ‘stuns’ developer

Distressed residents are being told to leave again.

The damage to the 10th floor in the Opal Tower.

Residents are still stranded after being evacuated on Christmas Eve.

Minister for Planning and Housing Anthony Roberts said two professors of engineering would lead an investigation into the cause of the failure and report on immediate steps to be taken to ensure the safety of the building for residents.

The report, which will be made public once complete, will also include recommendations on how to avoid similar incidents in the future.

“I’ve been in contact with the developer and the builder in the last 24 hours and have stressed to them my expectation that these residents are looked after,” Mr Roberts said.

An angry resident confronts the developers. Picture: ABC News

BUILDING BLAME GAME

Experts have come out swinging over the “boom-burdened” building industry in major cities, saying Sydney’s cracking Opal Tower is part of a much wider problem.

But now the developer of the Olympic Park building has hit back, saying any suggestion the damage points to “a broader pattern in the industry” is completely wrong.

“The city’s ‘development boom’ has not led to cutting of corners,” Ecove director Bassam Aflak said in a statement this morning. “There has been no cutting of corners.”

Mr Aflak’s comments come after waterproofing consultant Ross Taylor wrote a controversial opinion piece for the Sydney Morning Herald.

Mr Taylor said while it was too early to tell who was at fault, a pattern had been emerging industry-wide.

He details problems with a high-rise down the road that had not made front page news because the structural failure was more gradual.

Mr Taylor said the balconies started sagging gradually after residents moved in — some as much as 180mm.

“As a result, cracks have opened up, water runs away from the outlets and pools on the balconies,” he said.

“Such stories are being lived throughout our apartment boom-burdened major cities by owners who suspected nothing when they bought. Culprits and scapegoats for these and other defects are sometimes found but root causes are rarely identified.”

Many residents from the 36-storey building which was evacuated on Christmas Eve are still stranded.

Emergency services were called to the Opal Tower at Sydney Olympic Park on Monday after those living in the recently completed building heard and saw cracking in a wall throughout the morning.

Remedial work has been under way to fix “what appears to be one failed panel”.

That prefabricated concrete panel was made nearby by a company that turns over $65 million a year supplying a range of such precast products to commercial builders, The Australian reports.

Mr Aflak said Ecove’s focus was ensuring residents were getting all the care and support possible.

“Part of that is getting them accurate information as soon as we can and reconfirming that the building is safe,” he said.

He said they were pushing as hard as everyone else for information on what had happened.

“It’s a high-quality building. Ecove has delivered a project that is well above the industry standard.

“It’s too early to leap to any conclusions, for instance, to speculate on wider building issues because of what appears to be one failed panel.

“The builder and the authorities are working flat out to root out the problem. The builder has advised us to expect feedback from their engineers shortly.

“Importantly, the authorities have deemed the building safe.”

Building material at the Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park.

Notes in the building have been updating residents.

He said the project had allowed the delivery of more than $30 million of infrastructure to improve the Sydney Olympic Park community with parklands, a water quality control system that cleans the stormwater run-off, wheelchair accessible pathways to Bicentennial Park, a footbridge and underpass beneath the rail line.

Residents have said they don’t plan to renew their leases. Some had only just moved in and said they regretted signing longer agreements.

Others who don’t live in the building have shared their thoughts on the area’s safety.

“If you look at the photo closely you can see how the Opal Tower is leaning to the right compared to the other towers,” wrote one person on Twitter.

“This building needs to be demolished and the childcare centre needs to be shutdown ASAP; this building is not safe!”

When I worked at #EastVillage, every so often a glass panel (3x1.5m of reinforced glass) would shatter and fall to two stories to the busy internal mall below. Strangely that never got any media coverage. Apparently it was the building settling. #opaltower pic.twitter.com/UOUtQLXP9h

— ModernBradfield (@sydneyworks) December 26, 2018

“Will #Sydney become the new equivalent of the #GoldCoast after their #property bust many years ago? Looks like many more defective Sydney buildings will crash in value. Nobody sane would buy at Opal Tower in #Olympicpark,” wrote another man.

Tradies have worked through Christmas to investigate the problem. Picture: John Feder