Compound of Beaufort health clinic covered with gravel
Published on: Tuesday, October 10, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
Gravel was poured over the damaged sections of the land in front of the building.
GRAVEL has been poured over a section of the compound of the Padas Damit Health Clinic, in Beaufort, to deal with the nuisance created by the pockets of rainwater which collect on the grounds.The openings to the drains along the roads in front of, and leading to, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital (QEH) II – on the other hand – have been cleared to mitigate a similar ponding-problem in the Dah Yeh Villa area of the State Capital.
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This action was prompted by feedback from a Beaufort driver about the poor condition of the parking area in front of the Clinic, as well as a Kepayan motorist’s observations about the run-off which pooled at the Jalan Damai-Jalan Bersatu junction near the Hospital, during a downpour.
These individuals separately provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding the grievances which were forwarded to the Health Department and government concessionaire.
Action was taken to clear the openings to the roadside drain in this part of Jalan Damai.
A Department spokesman said the Beaufort Health Office (BHO) was well aware about the irregularities involving the Clinic’s unsealed compound, including the large depressions which had formed in the soil.
He said workers manually graded the surface of the grounds, after the “crusher run” was delivered to the premises towards the end of last month.
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“The stones were meant to have been laid over the damaged sections of the compound weeks earlier as a means of offering drivers some short-term relief,” he said.
“This stop-gap measure had to be delayed because of the flash floods which occurred in Beaufort in September.”
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He said the carpark for the Clinic was due to be refurbished, with the work set to begin next month.
“A concrete shelter will be built in our compound as part of this improvement effort, which is meant to serve as an additional waiting area for patients.
“The 50 x 80 foot structure will be equipped with ceiling fans and lights for this purpose.”
He said some of the electricity and telecommunication lines for the Clinic were in the midst of being relocated.
“Once this is done, the area in front of the building will be cemented.”
The spokesman said the BHO had received a contribution from the Assemblyman’s fund to have the carpark upgraded.
The concessionaire’s workers in the midst of unclogging the weep holes on Jalan Bersatu.
Lumadan (N34) Assemblyman Datuk Ruslan Muharam got a first-hand look at the carpark when he visited the Clinic on June 27, according to him.
Meanwhile, the government concessionaire recently attended to the “weepholes” for some of the roadside drains along Jalan Bersatu and Jalan Damai in a bid to minimise the likelihood of the run-off collecting at the junction to QEH II when it rains heavily
A spokeswoman for the firm said five of its technicians unclogged these openings according to its maintenance schedule on Friday.
She said the smaller roadside drain on Jalan Damai was cleaned four times a year, while the one on Jalan Bersatu was dealt with bi-annually.
The company’s site-supervisor conducted two separate inspections of the latter after being contacted by the media, according to her.
“He noticed that the entrances to QEH II and private specialist hospital beside it were on a slope, with the junction to both medical institutions located at the base of this incline,” she said.
“Our supervisor theorised that this may account for the pond of rainwater which formed at the junction when the rainfall was particularly intense.”
She said a monsoon drain ran beneath the junction, which was not under the company’s jurisdiction.
“We were made to understand that the Drainage and Irrigation Department are is in the process of clearing the monsoon drain on Jalan Damai.”
AHMAD of Beaufort bemoaned the uneven surface of the Clinic’s compound.
“There are huge depressions on area near the building making it like an obstacle course for drivers,” he said.
“Water ponds in many places, during a downpour, and the red earth becomes muddy.”
He decried the difficulty patients experienced in walking from the carpark to the Clinic especially when it was wet.
“You wind up dirtying your clothes and shoes moving from your car to the building.
“Senior citizens and pregnant women, in particular, risk slipping and falling because of the mud and puddles in their way.”
ROWLY of Kepayan was unhappy about the “mini swimming pool” which occasionally formed at the Jalan Bersatu-Jalan Damai junction during a deluge.
“I suspect that this might be due to a drainage problem of some sort,” he said.
He feared that that cracks could form in the asphalt because of the frequency of the water ponding on the road.
“I have noticed that the road outside QEH II is laden with potholes.”
The spokeswoman refuted the claim about the potholes, saying that the concessionaire’s supervisor found no evidence of this damage during the two inspections of Jalan Bersatu.
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