Call on homeowner to tend greenery
Published on: Friday, September 30, 2022
By: Sidney Skinner
Workers with the Papar District Council in the midst of trimming the grass and weeds in Taman Bukit Manggis.
The Papar District Council has called on homeowners in Taman Bukit Manggis to tend to the greenery which they have planted outside their fences, while the agency’s Penampang counterpart will step up efforts to maintain the drain reserves in Taman OKK Lojungah.This follows feedback about the unkempt condition of the common areas around both neighbourhoods.
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A Papar District Council spokesman said the agency didn’t mind the land besides the roads and drains, under its maintenance, being turned into private gardens. “The gardeners should, however, maintain their greenery at regular intervals,” he said.
“Our staff recently found that this was not being done in one part of Taman Bukit Manggis.”
He said overgrown banana and mango trees were spotted on some reserves, which were likely to get in the way of drain-clearing and grass-cutting efforts in these areas.
“Owing to this, our personnel spoke to the owners about dealing with their greenery accordingly.
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“They were urged to look after their plants and trees by pruning them and making sure that they did not become diseased or unsightly.
“In this way, their greenery will be less of a public nuisance or danger.” The spokesman said the rate-payers in question were given a grace-period in which to abide by the Council’s requirements.
A Penampang District Council grass-cutter attends to the reserve land around Taman OKK Lojungah.
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“Notices will be given to any who fail to comply after this. Further action will be taken against those who persist in disregarding our instructions.”
He declined to specify the nature of this action but did not rule out the possibility of hard-headed rate-payers being slapped with a compound.
RHYANN of Papar said many of the public spaces around Taman Bukit Manggis had become an eye-sore as no action had been taken to maintain this land in “a long time”.
“They are covered with overgrown trees and plants. The drains in front and at the back of my house are full of weeds,” he said. He said many of the dried leaves from the trees fell into the drains further clogging these structures.
“The water inside has been stagnating as a bad smell occasionally wafts over from the direction of the drains.
“I fear that Aedes mosquitoes might be breeding in the stagnant water.
“I shared my concerns with one my neighbours who happens to work at the Health Department.
“He told me that I have every right to be alarmed as there had been several dengue cases in Taman Greenfield nearby last year.”
Rhyann related his misgivings about a potential dengue outbreak taking place in the neighbourhood to the Council. “The staff, who dealt with me, said that his peers would check on what was going on in my neighbourhood.
“I don’t know whether his colleagues actually came here as the situation has only become worse in the months since I spoke to him.”
He said, at one point, another homeowner from Taman Bukit Manggis took matters into his own hands and attended to the long grass growing on the backyard drain reserves.
The Council also took action to clear the drains in this part of Penampang.
“My parents-in-law and some of the other neighbours gave him a little fee for this effort.
“This did not sit well with me as we already pay the Council to do this. What is point of clearing my account on time, when my assessment is not being used as it should?”
Rhyann provided Hotline with the location of his house which was forwarded to the agency.
The spokesman said its staff went to the neighbourhood, shortly after being contacted by the media.
“Our workers cleared the backyard drains and cut the grass on the government land here following this inspection,” he said.
“We called on the government concessionaire to do the same in the front of the complainant’s house as this area is maintained by the company.”
He said the Council tried to have the drains at the back cleaned on a monthly basis. The grass on the shoulders of these structures was attended to two times a month.
The Penampang District Council, on the other hand, deployed its staff to deal with the backyard drains and reserve land around Taman OKK Lojungah, after a rate-payer complained about the overgrown grass on the side of his housing road. A Council spokesman said grass-cutting work was performed on a quarterly basis while drain-clearing work was conducted once a month.
“Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the relevant section has been asked to keep to this schedule,” he said.
“The supervisor, assigned to oversee the maintenance work around the neighbourhood, 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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