Dept looking into sewerage woes in Luyang
Published on: Tuesday, December 21, 2021
By: Sidney Skinner
The level of sewage inside this manhole in Taman Southern is very high.
THE Sewerage Services Department (SSD) will try to minimise the nuisance created by strong ammonia-like smell coming from the direction of the housing drains in Taman Southern.A SSD spokeswoman said damage to the main sewage pipes on Jalan Lintas had given rise to the stench and toilet-related problems in this part of Luyang.
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She said the SSD was working together with the Public Works Department (PWD) and City Hall to “realign and rectify” the sewerage along the main road.
“The main pipes need urgent attention as the effluent from the neighbourhoods and commercial centres here, including Taman Southern, is not being properly transported to the regional sewerage treatment plant (RSTP) here,” she said.
“The sewer line has been affected by the construction of the flyover.”
She said the PWD was in the process of trying to secure funds to rehabilitate the sewerage there as part of “kerja tambahan (additional work)” under the flyover project.
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“We were made to understand that a proposal for this work was submitted to the Federal Ministry of Finance (MOF) in November.
“The PWD is still waiting for the MOF to make a decision on this request.
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“In the meantime, the SSD will speak to City Hall about the possibility of having microbes placed in the front-yard drains around Taman Southern.
“This should provide the residents with some relief from the foul odour permeating their homes.”
City Hall engineers check on this drain in Taman Southern as the effluent is being pumped out of a manhole the Lintas flyover.
The spokeswoman was responding to a Luyang rate-payer’s observations that the manholes along Lorong Unta 11 had been overflowing for some time.
He suspected that effluent was finding its way into the road-side drains because of the ammonia-like stink which often wafted over from the direction of these structures.
The homeowner also bemoaned the inability to use the toilets on the ground floor of his house.
The individual said the contents inside the bowl often rose instead of receding when the flush was pulled.
Off late, a “gurgling sound” sound could sometimes be heard coming from these toilets, even though they were unoccupied.
The resident provided Hotline with the location of his house which was forwarded to the SSD and City Hall.
A spokesman for the latter’s Engineering Department said it was aware of the sewerage woes in Taman Southern but could do little to remedy this problem.
“The manholes in this part of Luyang have been overflowing on and off for months,” he said.
“We traced these incidents to a collapse of the sewer line beside Jalan Lintas.
“Many of the sewer mains are cracked because of the heavy piling involved in the construction of the flyover.”
He said the sewerage along the road was supposed to have been relocated prior to the start of this project.
“The PWD is endeavouring to carry out a major rehabilitation of these services.
“The agency is going to implement a diversion and relocation of the sewer line, including making connections to new pipes.”
While waiting for these efforts to get off the ground, the spokesman said the effluent was being discharged into the drains in Taman Southern.
Nevertheless, in light of the rate-payer’s grievance, he said City Hall would look for “some other lower point” in which to empty the effluent.
“We are also looking into some means of easing the toilet-woes in the neighbourhood.
“Our subcontractor has been to Taman Southern on three separate occasions since the beginning of December, to clear the blockages in the sewer line, including manholes, in the neighbourhood.
“The individual’s tanker cannot possibly contain all the sewage from the neighbourhood at one go.
“It will take several trips to do this. On top of that, the sewer line will be full again within a matter of days.”
The tanker has a 5,000-litre capacity, according to him.
He admitted that having the pipes desludged on a weekly, let alone daily, basis would put too much of a strain on City Hall financially.
“We will have to look for a more cost-efficient means of dealing with the blockages in the neighbourhood’s sewerage.
“Our staff will periodically keep an eye on the pipes there, for the time being, to try and reduce the stench and toilet-related inconvenience caused to our rate-payers in Taman Southern.”
JUDE of Luyang said he was forced to keep his windows closed to prevent the stench from the coming indoors.
“We have to put up with the lack of fresh air inside just to minimise this nuisance,” he said.
“We cannot even spend much time in our gardens because the stink drives us back into our homes.”
“I have a strong feeling that the waste water is somehow finding its ways into the drains outside my front yard.”
Jude said such a practice was not just unhygienic but bound to have a negative impact on the health of those living in Taman Southern.
“I can only wonder how their wellbeing might be affected from having to inhale the smelly fumes from the drains.”
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