City Hall, Penampang District Council step up greenery maintenance
Published on: Tuesday, June 28, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
City Hall workers trying their best to clean up the common area around the banana trees on this Luyang reserve.
CITY Hall (DBKK) has taken some Luyang rate-payers to task for failing to tend to the greenery they planted outside their backyard fences, while the District Council will step up efforts to maintain the government land beside housing roads in a Penampang neighbourhood.This follows separate feedback about the unkempt condition of the common area behind homes in Lorong Palas 1B and in front of residences near a recreation club, off Mile 3 ½ Jalan Penampang.
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A spokesman for City Hall’s Landscaping Department welcomed initiatives by the public to turn drain reserves into private gardens as such efforts made spaces more pleasing to the eye.
“This is permitted so long as the gardeners maintain their greenery regularly,” he said.
“Our staff recently found that this was not being done in one part of Taman Jindo.”
Landscaping Department workers put their backs into cleaning the backyard drain in this part of Taman Jindo.
He said the overgrown banana trees, pandan bushes and palm trees on a backyard reserve there were deemed to be a hindrance, when it came to cleaning the common drain and trimming the grass in this area.
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“Owing to this, our personnel asked the owners to deal with their greenery accordingly.
“They were urged to look after their plants and trees by pruning them and making sure that they did not become diseased or unsightly.
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“In this way, this greenery would be less of a public nuisance or danger.”
The spokesman said these rate-payers could be officially instructed to remove their greenery altogether, if they failed to meet the agency’s requirements.
“If they do not comply, then they will be deemed to have encroached onto government land and, therefore, asked to chop down their greenery from this property.”
“Government land” in this respect included drain reserves, verges and, in some cases, playgrounds, according to him.
“Notices will be issued instructing them to uproot their plants. Further action will be taken against them, if they ignore these instructions.”
He did not rule out the possibility of City Hall uprooting these trees and plants, if their owners failed to do so themselves
HUMPHREY of Luyang described the area beyond his backyard fence as being an eye-sore.
He said no action had been taken to trim the grass and trees there in some time.
“This area is covered with overgrown trees, plants and weeds. It looks as if a jungle has formed there,” he said.
He also suspected that this land might have become a breeding ground for pests.
“Snakes and rats have been coming into my compound from this property.”
A Council staff clears this road side drain while his peer trims the grass on the verge.
He expressed her frustrations about the City Hall’s failure to tend to this area “for months”.
Humphrey first informed the agency that this land was overgrown in May.
“I cannot understand how the agency could be turning a blind-eye to this problem after so long.”
On top of being unsightly, he said the greenery was also a potential fire-hazard.
The spokesman said a team of eight workers went to Lorong Palas 1B twice in June, after the agency was contacted by the media.
“They tried their best to trim the grass and de-sludge the drain at the back of the housing road,” he said.
“It took two separate visits to complete this work due to the heavy rains which fell during this period.”
The District Council, on the other hand, deployed several of its staff to carry out similar work in one part of Penampang, after a rate-payer staying behind a recreation club in the area spoke out about the overgrown grass on the side of his housing road.
The “lalang” had apparently grown so tall that it covered an overflowing manhole on this road-shoulder.
A Council spokesman said action had also been taken to prevent the effluent from escaping into the common areas there.
“This should temporarily ease the nuisance caused by the stench coming from the direction of the manhole,” he said.
“We intend to have the manhole rebuilt in the long term and are in the process of sourcing for funds to do this.”
He said grass-cutting and drain-clearing work was generally performed once a month in neighbourhoods within the agency’s rating area.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the relevant section has been asked to keep to this schedule.
“The supervisor, assigned to oversee the maintenance work around the recreation club, has been asked to make periodic checks to ensure that the road-shoulders, including the drains, are being properly looked after.”
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