Ranau flood woe due to culvert
Published on: Saturday, February 04, 2023
By: Clarence Dol
The situation in front of the Sabindo Supermarket.
RANAU: Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, Datuk Abidin Madingkir, hoped that the road problems in the district will be dealt with immediately by the authorities even though the matter is not that easy to solve.“The problem is caused by the installation of a culvert that is too small. The culvert was installed decades ago where the number of buildings around the area and also the number of vehicles were not as many.
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“At that time, the size of the culvert was able to accommodate the flow of water that passed through the area,” he said when contacted.
Today, Abidin said, with the development taking place, there are areas that have been dumped with landfill and buildings erected.
“Heavy vehicles also pass through this area, and the number is increasing every day.
A van stuck after driving into a deep pothole.
“This situation resulted in the original culvert built in the place being buried by soil deposits and now no longer function as it used to,” he said.
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According to him, efforts to determine the exact location of the culvert also could not be carried out because it had been compressed under a pile of soil.
“When it rained continuously recently, there was a water reservoir in the area that could not be drained.
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“This also involves roads that are the main route for local users as well as those from outside,” said Abidin, who is also the Paginatan Assemblyman.
He added that the Public Works Department (JKR) and the Ranau District Office had made an inspection in the area recently and found that the original culvert had been buried four feet deep from its original place, and was difficult to find.
“I contacted JKR Ranau and was told that today (Wednesday), their party and also the Concession Company Lintasan, will go to the location to solve the problem.
“It is said that they have received the green light from the central leadership at HQ Kota Kinabalu to deal with the problem.
“I also understand that JKR and Lintasan will replace the old culvert with a new one measuring 1.8m in diameter so that it can accommodate the flow of water there, especially in the continuous rainy season,” he said.
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