Steps taken to minimise Telipok floods

THE Public Works Department (PWD) has taken steps to minimise the likelihood of flash floods occurring at the Metro Giling Commercial Centre, with plans underway to build a second outlet for the drainage servicing this part of Telipok.

The shops and houses at the adjacent villages, Kg Giling and Kg Rugading, were partially submerged under water twice, when the roadside drains overflowed during downpours on Oct. 5 and Oct. 12.

A PWD spokesman said the agency intended to create another exit point for the run-off somewhere along Jalan KKIP Tengah.

“We tentatively hope to complete constructing the new outlet within two years,” he said.

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“Once this is done, it should substantially ease the flood woes experienced by the public in Telipok.”

He said the PWD officers checked on the existing outlet, near Petron-Rugading, together with their peers from the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), following heavy rains on Oct. 12.

The common areas and shops of Metro Giling are partially submerged by rainwater after the heavy rain on Oct 5

“As a result of this inspection, it was decided that the outlet needed to be enlarged. This will be done by the DID as there is a natural stream and surrounding land which this agency hopes to acquire for conversion into a drain reserve. “We understand that the DID has applied for funds from the Finance Ministry to upgrade a 300-metre section of the drains near Petron-Rugading, including the outlet.”

While waiting for these plans to get off the ground, the spokesman said the PWD had installed some culverts along the main road near the Commercial Centre to offer shop-owners and those living nearby temporary relief from the drainage problems there.

“During the heavy rains on Oct. 12, we noticed that an existing culvert at this section of the stretch was clogged with rubbish and have since cleared this blockage,” he said.

The Commercial Centre did not flood during the downpour on Monday

He described both this downpour and the one on Oct. 5 as being “extraordinarily intense”.

“The Department has a device which measures the intensity of the rainfall. On Oct. 5, we recorded a reading of 240mm, while on Oct. 12 it was 145mm.”

He said normal rainfall generally yielded a reading of between 70-80mm.

The spokesman was responding to an appeal for help from a unit owner at Metro Giling, whose electrical appliances, furniture and vehicles, were damaged when the drains overflowed on both occasions. He said the floods in October were the worst that he had experienced since he first began operating at the Commercial Centre, with the water levels rising as high as six feet.

The individual said this problem had been exacerbated by the ongoing work to build the Pan-Borneo Highway as the level of the road being constructed was higher than the level of the drains for the Commercial Centre. The proprietor hoped the local authorities would act to prevent the rainwater from pooling in common areas around the blocks at the Centre and infiltrating the shops each time there was a downpour.

He also hoped they would look into compensating shop-owners for the losses they had incurred because of the floods.

The spokesman acknowledged the shop operator’s observations about the drains for the Centre being lower than the level of the road being built, saying it was unfair to cite this discrepancy as the main reason for the drainage woes there.

“A study, undertaken prior to the commencement of efforts to build the Highway two years ago, found that the Rugading and Giling areas were flood-prone even from before.

A kitchen cabinet, refrigerator and raw cooking material were ruined by the flood.

“The unusually heavy rains which fell in October only served to highlight this problem even more.”

When asked how much of the work on the Highway, near both villages, had been carried out so far, he estimated that between 15 and 20 per cent of this construction had been completed.

“Telipok falls under Package 8 of the Pan-Borneo project which extends from the Sepanggar Bay area to the Berunggis roundabout.

“Once we are finished, there should be a free-flow of traffic between these two locations, with flyovers and elevated U-turns replacing the traffic-lights and roundabouts.

“We are in the midst of modifying the present four-lane road in Telipok into six lanes.”

He said the existing outlet, near Petron-Rugading, could be cleared more frequently in the hopes of easing the flash floods.

“Such action, however, would only partially relieve the drainage woes experienced by those living and working here.”

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On the losses incurred by shop operators at Metro Giling as a result of the floods in October, the spokesman said PWD officers, the contractor’s staff and personnel from the insurance firm, engaged in the Pan-Borneo project, had met with some of the affected unit-owners on Thursday.

“The claims for the damage they sustained were recorded. It is now up to the company to assess their losses before offers of compensation can be made,” he said.

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