Developer working to keep Luyang folks above water
Published on: Thursday, November 18, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
.jpg "Developer working to keep Luyang folks above water")
Water from the drains can be seen entering the compound of this Taman Dixon house in September.
The developer of a housing project near Taman Dixon hopes to minimise the likelihood of flash floods occurring there by building a “central drain” through the Luyang neighbourhood.A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said the structure would channel the run-off from the construction site to the nearest main drain in the area.
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He said this was part of an initiative by the company to refurbish the drainage and roads for the low-lying areas adjacent to the project.
“The firm has come up with a long-term strategy to mitigate the flood problems in Taman Dixon and is shouldering the costs of this upgrading effort,” he said.
Two detention ponds were set up inside the construction site in August for this purpose, according to him.
The developer’s workers in the midst of raising the level of the driveway of this Luyang home.
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This action was prompted by appeals from several rate-payers on Lorong Apens 1 and Lorong Apens 2 for City Hall to intervene on the drainage woes there.
Water from the front-yard drains has spilled onto these roads and permeated the compounds of their homes, on and off, during heavy downpours, since May.
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The spokesman said the developer was in the midst of raising the level of the front porch of some of the residences which were impacted by the floods.
“Since the middle of August, this has been done for seven homeowners.”
He said the firm’s workers have also de-sludged the road-side drains in these areas.
The company was also undertaking a flood prevention study, with the findings used to formulate a drainage system plan, according to him.
“The developer has made an application to the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) for this purpose.
“The firm intends to finalise this plan by February next year and will submit it to us once it has received the necessary accreditation from the DID.”
SHUFWAT, who has been living in Taman Dixon for the past two decades, said he had never experienced such extreme floods as he did that Wednesday afternoon and Thursday morning in July.
“Water began spilling over from our front-yard drains after only about 15 minutes of rainfall that afternoon,” he said.
“Thankfully, the downpour stopped a short time later.”
When the heavy rains began again around 1am, however, the roads and compounds of homes on Lorong Apens 1 and 2 were sunk under a higher level of floodwater.
He said the sky only cleared up after the sun came up that morning.
He said this was not the first time that the drains along these housing roads had overflowed.
Floods struck this area twice in May and on two more occasions in September, according to him.
Two water retaining ponds have been set up at the construction site.
He said these drainage woes began after the reclamation work started at the end of Lorong Apens 1 earlier this year.
“Me and some of my neighbours have spoken to the developer about this. Despite this effort, our pleas seem to have fallen on deaf ears.
“Nothing has been done to prevent the floods from occurring when it rains. No action has been taken to either to divert or contain the run-off from the construction site.”
He was made to understand that some 92 residential units were slated to be built on the land.
“The drainage for this new neighbourhood will eventually be connected with ours.
“In light of this, I wonder if the existing drains in Taman Dixon are big enough to cope with the added discharge from the property next door.
“Should the run off from the new homes even be channelled through our drains?”
He said he was not the only homeowner who was concerned about the impact the adjacent property would have on Taman Dixon.
“Eighteen others in my area are equally troubled by the neighbouring development and have signed a letter asking City Hall to resolve our existing drainage woes.”
Shufwat said this petition was handed over to the Mayor when she inspected the construction site and housing drains in the neighbourhood on July 15.
The spokesman said, prior to the flood in July, City Hall had only approved the company’s request to have the property “back-filled”.
“The rain-water inadvertently washed the soil from the land-clearing into the roadside drains during the incident,” he said.
“The developer was slapped with a RM500 compound under City Hall’s Earthworks Bylaws 1987 for the poor management of the drains and silt from the construction site.”
He said the company settled the compound and, later, submitted a sketch for a temporary diversion for the run-off from the land.
“The temporary drainage breaks off in two directions to ensure that the volume of water pooling on Lorong Apens 1 is not excessive.
“The developer also assured us that the company would step up surveillance of the run-off to from its property.”
The spokesman said City Hall staff had been keeping tabs on the goings-on at the construction site to ensure that the developer fulfilled the agency’s requirements.
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