Hotline: Developer accountable for reinstating Jln Padawan Biau

THE developer of Taman Hedy in Papar will be held accountable for reinstating Jalan Padawan Biau properly, including the section leading to Kg Purak.

The company’s lorries have been using the stretch for some time while the different phases of the residential property were being built.

The condition of the road has gradually been deteriorating due in part to the movement of these heavy vehicles, with drivers in the village speaking out about the potholes which formed when the asphalt was ruined.

A Public Works Department spokesman said the firm had been given permission to make use of the agency’s road for the duration of the construction period.

“The developer initially applied for a way-leave till January last year. However, the management later wrote to us seeking an extension till August 30,” he said.

The PWD will double-check that the access road to Kg Purak is properly reinstated once the way-leave expires.

He said the Department’s staff had inspected the stretch periodically while the way-leave was in effect, reminding the company’s contractor about the upkeep of the road whenever it warranted.

Inspections were conducted as recently as August 23 and before that on August 2.

The spokesman said a spotlight was put up at one section of the access road to Kg Purak, following the second check, so that drivers could more easily make out where the depressions in stretch lay at night.

This action was prompted by feedback that the blinking lights – attached to the plastic barricades on the road shoulder – provided inadequate illumination, according to him He said partial repairs had been made of the stretch from time to time, with gravel being poured over the potholes or concrete being used to seal the damage.

“The developer has assured us that a proper improvement will be made once the construction work has been completed.”

The spokesman explained that this “improvement” involved raising the level of the road to mitigate the likelihood of run-off ponding on the surface.

“The rainwater which pools on the asphalt when it rains has been eating away the asphalt. This has given rise to the inconvenience caused by the potholes.”

He said a subsequent inspection would be carried out in September to double-check if the developer had made good on restoring the stretch. “This will allow us to determine how much of the security deposit related to the way-leave will be returned to the management.”

Meanwhile, City Hall plans to give the road humps on Lorong Rampai in Kepayan a “bit of a face-lift” should its funds allow.

A spokesman for the agency said there were three humps located at strategic intervals on the 742 metre stretch in Taman Selesa.

“Our road-patching gang (RPG) made a preliminary inspection of the housing road earlier this month,” he said.

“The humps were mostly found to be in good condition and functional,” he said.

“However, RPG personnel did observe that that the paint had worn off, in places, on some of the humps while the concrete had eroded away around the edges from others.”

A spotlight was recently put up to improve the night-time visibility on this Papar road.

He said the agency hoped to address these irregularities when it could.

“A note has been made to restore the missing cement for the humps and to have them repainted. “This has been included in the list of works which we hope to carry out at some point in the future.”

When asked how often maintenance was carried on these structures, he said this was done as and when it became necessary to do so. SINO of Kepayan said many motorists had a tendency to accelerate down Lorong Rampai.

“Many drivers use the stretch as an alternative route to by-pass the jam on the main road,” he said.

He said traffic along the housing road was especially heavy during the peak hours in the late afternoon, once offices closed for the day.

Sino hoped the local authorities would consider putting more humps on the stretch to discourage drivers from speeding.

The spokesman said City Hall had deliberated over the rate-payer’s request but decided that there was no need to have additional humps built on Lorong Rampai.

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