PWD repairs two Beaufort roads. Potholes: City Hall to inspect Jalan Pintas Damai at regular intervals

CITY Hall will inspect Jalan Pintas Damai at regular intervals, following feedback about the potholes which have been forming in this Luyang road over the past year.

Drivers living and working at Damai Plaza Phase 2 and Taman Sinar – between which the road is located – bemoaned the substantial costs they had incurred in repairing their vehicles because of the uneven surface of the stretch.

They hoped the agency would step up efforts to maintain the road so that they might be spared this added expenditure.

A spokesman for City Hall’s Traffic and Transport Department refuted the suggestion that it had turned a blind eye to their plight, saying that the agency intended to improve the road.

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“We have been trying to obtain the funds to realise our intention since September, but this has proven to be challenging as the financial outlay to upgrade the stretch is quite high,” he said.

A steam-roller grades the newly sealed section of Jalan Lumadan in Beaufort.

“Jalan Pintas Damai has been listed among those roads under our purview which require serious attention.”

While attempting to secure an allocation, he said, the agency had tried to offer road-users some temporary relief.

“Workers from the government concessionaire went in, a few months ago, to deal with the damaged sections of the stretch.

“Our road-patching gang did the same earlier this month, after we managed to replenish our stock of asphalt.”

When asked how often the agency’s roads were maintained, he said this was done as and when it became necessary to do so. “Budgetary constraints prevent us from doing this according to a fixed schedule.

“Nevertheless, our staff have been asked to keep tabs on these stretches to ensure that the road woes do not recur.”

LUCIA, who works at an office in the Plaza, said she had been contacting the agency, on and off, about the problems with the stretch since October 2021. “I was made to understand, a month later, that City Hall had forwarded my grouse to the government concessionaire,” she said.

“The company’s staff was advised to inspect the road and carry out repairs, if it warranted. “Nothing has come of this effort, so far,” Lucia said.

A fresh layer of asphalt was poured over one part of Jalan Bukau, in Beaufort, on Monday.

MARI, who lives in Taman Sinar, also spoke out about the agency’s failure to follow-up on action to restore the stretch. “The surface of the road is pock-marked with so many holes which become deeper after each downpour,” she said. “Gravel was poured over the damaged sections at one stage but the stones have since been dispersed by the many cars which use the road.”

She said, at one stage, a good samaritan even filled some of the potholes with leftover building material.

“Whoever did this may have felt that City Hall was taking too long to attend to the stretch.”

Another Taman Sinar resident, ABDUL, decried the poor upkeep of the road. “I settle my annual assessment with City Hall promptly each year,” he said. “I cannot understand why the agency has been slow to put the money, which me and my neighbours pay, to good use by improving the condition of the stretch.”

Meanwhile, the Public Works Department (PWD) has repaired two Beaufort roads and will be keeping an eye on these stretches to ensure that they do not become damaged again.

A spokesman for the agency said its contractors, involved in the construction of the Pan Borneo Highway, patched up Jalan Lumadan and Jalan Bukau on Monday. A steam-roller was deployed to grade the affected portions of both these stretches, according to him.

“We tentatively hope to complete the section of the Highway which passes through the district by 2024,” he said.

“Until then, our contractors have been asked to be more mindful about the condition of the Department’s roads around the town.”

He said these individuals were obliged to ensure that these stretches were “dalam keadaan baik dan selamat untuk digunakan (in a good state and safe to use)”. YANI of Beaufort bemoaned the traffic hazards posed by the damage to Jalan Lumadan and Jalan Bukau.

She said potholes, of various shapes and sizes, had formed in some parts of these roads.

“Drivers, who slow down to go over the potholes, risk being hit from behind,” she said.

“Those who try to go around them face the possibility of colliding with the traffic coming from the opposite direction.” She said the chances of an accident taking place increased after dark due to the lack of illumination on both roads.

“No streetlights have been put up on the road-shoulders. You won’t know that there is a vehicle coming round the bend at night until you catch sight of the head-lights in front of you.”

Yani hoped the PWD would act to improve the condition of Jalan Lumadan and Jalan Bukau before someone came to harm or worse.

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