Walking on a Sloped Sidewalk in a Residential Area of Gimhae, Gyeongnam for 14 Weeks Diagnosed
Taxi Driver in His 50s Faces Livelihood Crisis After 40 Days Without Work
Resident Moon from Oedong, Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam is explaining the situation at the accident site. Photo by Sanghyun Lee lsh2055@
[Asia Economy Yeongnam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Lee Sang-hyun] Moon, a taxi driver in his 50s, was simply walking on the sidewalk designed for pedestrians on his day off.
The day misfortune struck him was the morning of August 21, when it was drizzling rain.
The hours of labor spent driving a taxi came to a halt, and even the income that had barely sustained his livelihood amid the COVID-19 downturn was cut off.
About 40 days after the accident, I met him again at ‘that spot’.
“I was seriously injured and had surgery, and losing my livelihood is frustrating enough, but the officials are just busy passing the responsibility to each other.” His voice, mixed with anger, was trembling.
Moon, who lives in an apartment in Oedong, Gimhae-si, Gyeongnam, slipped and fell on a metal manhole cover wet from the rain on a slope near the apartment around 10 a.m. on August 21 while going to meet his family.
He was diagnosed with multiple fractures in his left leg, requiring 14 weeks of recovery. The pain was momentary compared to the immediate worry about feeding his family.
After the surgery, Mr. Moon was diagnosed with fractures in multiple places on his left leg, requiring 14 weeks of treatment. [Image source=Contributor]
The manhole cover that stopped his livelihood was a flat iron plate. On rainy days, if one did not carefully avoid it, they had to risk stepping on what was essentially an ‘ice patch.’ There was no anti-slip treatment like grooves. Moreover, it was located in the middle of a narrow sidewalk on a slope.
Moon later heard from an official that the iron plate seemed to have been installed about 30 years ago. It was simply a plain iron plate placed over the manhole without any anti-slip treatment.
Moon has been off work for over 40 days and will have to rest for another 2 to 3 months. While the damage from the leg fracture is severe, what hurts more is the behavior of officials passing the responsibility for the accident back and forth, which he bitterly complained about.
To hold someone accountable for the unsafe facility, Moon explained the situation at the Gimhae City Hall Civil Complaints Office, only to be transferred to the Sewage Department.
The Sewage Department staff told Moon they would inspect the site and get back to him, but days passed without contact. When he called again, they said, “After checking the site, that facility is not related to the sewage pipes.”
Although he was seriously injured on a city-managed facility and filed a complaint, they reluctantly confirmed it was not a facility under their responsibility.
Moon said, “I was so frustrated that when I asked again, all I got was ‘It’s not ours,’” expressing his dissatisfaction with the Sewage Department’s attitude.
He had to call City Hall again and was connected to the Permit Civil Complaints Department.
After reviewing the matter, the official said, “The facility was installed for underground KT communication line construction. The telecom company said the underground communication line was installed at the request of the commercial building owner adjacent to the sidewalk, so for matters related to the manhole cover installation, you should ask the building owner who requested the communication line.”
Moon was stunned by yet another answer passing the responsibility, but the real ‘passing the buck’ started from then on.
The manhole cover at the site where Mr. Moon slipped and was injured (above). Below is a sewer cover with proper anti-slip treatment, while above is a smooth metal plate with buried communication lines.
Moon’s complaint filed with the Anti-Corruption and Civil Rights Commission’s People’s Petition was assigned to Gimhae City, but the city immediately forwarded it to the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association.
When Moon found out and filed another complaint with the People’s Petition system, the complaint was again assigned to Gimhae City. Ultimately, the complaint has not found a proper owner and remains pending with both the Korea Telecommunications Operators Association and Gimhae City.
The back-and-forth passing of responsibility, like a ping-pong match, finally stopped at the City Hall Road Department.
A Road Department official said, “After confirming the responsibility for the facility, in principle, the building owner who received permission from the city to install the facility is responsible for its management. Since it has been almost 30 years since installation, the wires under the manhole are hardly used, and it seems the building owner is not managing it.” The city plans to remove the facility and restore the sidewalk.
Regarding compensation, the official said, “It is practically difficult for the complainant to negotiate personally with the building owner, so we have ‘guided’ him to resolve the matter through the State Compensation Deliberation Committee.”
Moon was baffled, saying, “During the complaint process, I even heard the incomprehensible claim that I should hold the building owner responsible for the damage because he gave part of his land to be used as a sidewalk.”
“Who walks on a sidewalk knowing it is private property?” he asked rhetorically. “Regardless of ownership, the party that creates and manages the sidewalk for pedestrians should be responsible for safety facilities.”
A local resident who heard about Moon’s injury said, “There have been several slips on that path before, but this time it escalated seriously,” and criticized, “Who exactly is responsible for managing the sidewalk?”
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