Kolombong homeowner ordered to remove chicken coop
Published on: Friday, February 26, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
A gate and chicken coop have been placed on this Kolombong drain reserve.
A KOLOMBONG homeowner will be instructed to remove a chicken coop, gate, mini-staircase and other items from the area outside her backyard in Taman Dai Ming.A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Building Control Department (BCD) said the individual was found to have encroached onto the drain reserve during an inspection of Lorong Pelam 2.ADVERTISEMENT
“Our personnel noted that the individual was occupying part of the government land which she had cordoned off,” she said on February 24.
“The public have no right to make use of this property, so the structures she placed in this common area are illegal.”
She said the agency was arranging to have a notice served to the ratepayer.
“The homeowner will be given a grace period in which to vacate the drain reserve.ADVERTISEMENT
“If she fails to comply, then further action will be taken against her.”
The chicken coop on the drain reserve.
The spokeswoman did not rule out the possibility of City Hall moving in to dismantle the gate and confiscate the other illegal structures.
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The agency’s action was prompted by another ratepayer’s displeasure about the stench coming from the drain.
He claimed that the drain was clogged with poultry droppings and feathers as a coop had been put up on the common land there.
The resident provided Hotline with the location of the drain in question. This information was forwarded to City Hall in November.
A spokesman for the agency’s Landscaping Department said its workers went to clear the structure a few days later.
“Their attempts were held up due of the difficulty in accessing part of the drain,” he said.
“A gate had been built across this section of the drain reserve.”
He said the backyard drains in the neighbourhood were cleared by City Hall staff on a quarterly basis.
“Those in the front and side of homes here are maintained by the government concessionaire.”
A spokesman for the agency’s Health and Environment Department said its staff went to the area in the first week of December to check on the poultry-related nuisance.
“The ratepayer was asked to reduce the number of chickens she had to less than 10,” he said.
“She was also instructed to look after the cleanliness of the coop and surrounding area.
“Our inspectors warned her, at the time, not to wash the droppings or feathers into the drain.”
He said these personnel noted the presence of the coop on the government land and e-mailed the BCD about their observation.
MING of Kolombong said part of the property beyond his backyard had been fenced off and a gate had been put up there.
He said a coop for chickens and ducks was later built on this common land.
He said flies, drawn to the bird droppings, had been seen buzzing about his house, much to the frustration of him and his wife.
Ming bemoaned the stench from the poultry’s faeces.
City Hall staff trying to deliver the notice about the illegal structures put up by the Kolombong home owner.
“The stink is especially intolerable at night and when it rains heavily,” he said.
“We have to keep the doors and windows in this part of homes closed to prevent the smell from entering our homes.”
Ming wanted to know whether the City Hall allowed poultry to be kept within a housing area.
“On top of this, how can the individual get away with occupying land which belongs to the authority?”
He claimed to have posed these questions to City Hall in October, but had yet to receive a response to his queries.
Ming said the water inside the drain was stagnating because the structure could not be cleaned from end to end.
“I fear that the drain has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes as I have noticed more and more these insects buzzing about my home.”
He said the structure overflowed flooding his backyard during a downpour, giving him the added headache of having to clean up the mud left behind in his compound after the water had dried up.
“I have noticed that the water inside does not recede even when the weather gets hot.Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
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“I suspect that the structure may be blocked because it cannot be thoroughly desludged.
“Attempts to clean the drain are being held up because City Hall’s workers cannot get past the obstructions in their way.”