Minimising flash floods
Published on: Wednesday, October 05, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
City Hall workers clearing weeds from the large drain at Jalan Bangka (left) and drain clearing at Taman Millenium Kingfisher (right)
Kota Kinabalu: City Hall is doubling drain-clearing efforts at flood-prone locations within its rating-area in anticipation of the inclement weather which the West Coast, including Kota Kinabalu, is due to experience over the coming months.The national Metrology Department recently warned the public about the unexpected gales, choppy waves and intense rainfall which were features of the North East Monsoon period from mid-November onwards.
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Sabah is among states likely to be impacted by this monsoon phase which lasts till March 2023. A City Hall spokesman said its Landscaping Department was taking steps to minimise the incidence of flash floods at some neighbourhoods under its jurisdiction.
“We are in the midst of cleaning our drains around Taman Prima Jaya and Taman Cendawan in Luyang as part of a special ‘Ops Banjir (Flood Operation)’,” he said on Oct. 4.
“We plan to have this done at several Manggatal neighbourhoods next, including Taman Kuala Manggatal.”
He said the operation began in the Likas area on Sept. 19 where four teams from the Department’s Drain Cleaning Unit went to Lorong Raja Udang 11, 12 and 13 in Taman Kingfisher, Taman Kingfisher Phases 2 and 2C, Taman Millennium Kingfisher and Taman Ujana Kingfisher.
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He said the Unit also attended to the large drain along Jalan Bangka-Bangka in Taman Kingfisher Phase 3, as well as those on the perimeter of an open space at Taman Ujana Kingfisher Phase 5.
Clearing the weeds at Taman Millenium Kingfisher.
The spokesman said 26 members with the Unit took about a week to finish dealing with the drains at these respective locations. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he said City Hall tried to have these structures cleaned on a monthly basis or once every two months.
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“We hope our rate-payers will be more mindful about the cleanliness of their surroundings and urge them not to treat the drains in the common areas around them as dustbins.”
On a complaint from a Likas homeowner about the shoddy job carried out by a contractor tasked with cutting the grass on the drain reserves around her neighbourhood, the spokesman said more information was needed to deal with this claim.
She claimed that the cuttings were not transported away as they should. Instead, the contractor’s workers blew them into the drains, according to her.
The spokesman said the rate-payer would be required to specify the name her housing road.
“We will be in a better position to resolve this problem once we have this information,” he said.
“We will have to determine if what is transpiring involves the common land at the back or in front of her home.”
He said the former was maintained by City Hall while the latter was under the government concessionaire.
“Our workers will be chided if the cut grass winds up in the backyard drains. An open truck generally accompanies our staff when they clean the drains or cut the grass.
“The trimmings and contents dredged up from the drains are supposed to be loaded onto the back of this vehicle.”
Should the verges in front of the house be involved, then the concessionaire would be alerted about the homeowner’s observations.
The homeowner should liaise with Hotline to determine whom to contact.
Samantha of Likas said many of the drains in her neighbourhood overflowed, when it rained heavily, as these structures were clogged with foreign objects, including cut grass.
“After the grass-cutters finish their job, they do not sweep the cuttings into small piles on the shoulders of the drains,” she said.
“I have seen them using a blower to scatter the cuttings all over common land and into the drains.”
She was under the impression that that the water inside the drains near her house had been stagnating.
“On hot days, a foul smell wafts over from the direction of these structures.
“The doors and windows in this part of the house have to be closed to prevent the stench from coming indoors.”
Samantha noticed an increase in the number of mosquitoes buzzing about her premises and feared that the insects were breeding inside the drains.”
She hoped the local authorities would intervene on the grass-cutting irregularities before a dengue outbreak occurred in her neighbourhood.
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