Nambazan folks cry foul over Highway

Penampang: The Pan Borneo Highway construction work along Jalan Penampang-Papar Lama has caused problems to the villagers at Kampung Nambazan due to repeated flash floods.Dennis Kung, whose house has seen one too many flash floods, said he had suffered more than RM20,000 in losses the past two years since construction began in 2014.

According to Kung, the main culprit is the poor drainage system built by the construction company.

The drain will overflow whenever it rains as their house was located on lower ground.

"Before the Pan Borneo Highway started its construction, we seldom experienced flash floods.

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Only the past two years we were forced to face all this.

"Our JKKK chairman submitted complaints to the respective authorities to no avail. The contractor broke the drain wall on Monday. However, it has made it even worse as the water flowed into our vicinity faster than before," he said.

Kung said he never made any personal complaint before as he chose to be patient and take it positively till now after his family suffered the third flood in one week on Monday.

The floods had caused him irreparable damages in terms of furniture and other household belongings as the water level increases very fast, he said, adding that he will make a police report for losses for claim purposes on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, Moyog Assemblyman Terrence Siambun pointed to the drainage failure along the road blaming Public Works Department (PWD) and the Pan Borneo contractor's inefficiency to ensure water flows into the Dambai River.

"I was informed by the Infrastructure Development Ministry in a written answer during the July 2015 State Assembly sitting that a total of 31 culvert crossing and a bridge at Dambai will be built along the road to divert the flowing water into the Moyog River.

"I have inspected and yes, all the drain and culvert are available. But why is there no inspection to oversee that the drainage system works accordingly without causing damages to the nearby residences?" he said, adding that the drains also have few blockages causing floods at the lower level road near Dewan Malakun in Dambai.

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The blockage had also affected other houses at Kampung Nambazan as the water did not flow down to the river due to clogged drains.

"It was the negligence of the authorities that caused all the unnecessary problems to the motorists and community in both Kibabaig and Nambazan," said Siambun.

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