Kepayan roadside drains cleared
Published on: Friday, September 06, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
One of the concessionaire’s workers gets knee deep in the drain on Lorong Rampai, while his colleague looks on.
THE government concessionaire has cleared the roadside drains in a Kepayan neighbourhood, while the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) is arranging to attend to a monsoon drain in one part of Kolombong.
This action was prompted by feedback from a homeowner in the former area and the employee whose office is based at the latter about the lack of maintenance carried out on these structures.
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The pair provided Hotline with the location of the affected sections of the drains on Lorong Rampai and Jalan Kolombong. This information was forwarded to City Hall and DID.
A spokeswoman for City Hall’s Landscaping Department said an inspection was made of Taman Selesa, in Kepayan, shortly after it was contacted by the media.
“Landscaping staff confirmed that the roadside drain was full of water and clogged with weeds,” he said.
She said the concessionaire was apprised of these findings and advised to take the necessary action.
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“Our staff returned to two weeks later to find that the water vegetation had been cleared and that the housing drains on Lorong Rampai had been desilted.”
The single housing road in Taman Selesa extends for some 776 metres between the junction to Jalan Pintas Donggongon to the junction to Lorong Ridge 1.
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The spokeswoman explained that the company was responsible for maintaining the drains along the housing roads in the State Capital, while City Hall attended to those behind residences under its jurisdiction.
The former structures were cleaned according to a fixed schedule, with the same being done to the latter once every six months, according to her.
“If necessary, our workers will try to come in even before the scheduled cleaning, to deal with any complaints involving the back-yard drains.
“We have called on the government concessionaire to step up its efforts to clear the drains in Taman Selesa.”
Meanwhile, the DID plans to undertake a similar drain-clearing effort in Jalan Kolombong.
A spokeswoman for the Department said its personnel checked on the monsoon drain which runs along one side of the road last month.
“They noted that the section of the drain, near the BDC/ Sedco Industrial Estate, was clogged with rubbish including piles of dried branches,” she said.
She said a check of the Department’s records revealed that the monsoon-drain was last cleaned earlier this year.
Despite having reduced the capacity of the drain, she said, the agency’s staff observed that the foreign objects had not impeded the flow of the water completely.
“The water in the drain may not have been moving quickly but it is still being channelled away.
“Our officers did not observe any green scum on the surface to indicate that the water had become stagnant.”
Nevertheless, owing to the concerns from the public in the area, she said, the DID would try to have a contractor assigned to de-silt the drain.
“If need be, an excavator may be brought in to facilitate efforts to dredge up the mud and remove the rubbish from inside.
“Should this be deemed necessary, then we will have to source for the funds to bring in this equipment.”
When asked how often the drain was attended to, the spokeswoman said there was no fixed schedule for this maintenance.
“We try to have our drains on the cleaned twice annually.
“If the Department’s budget permits, this may be performed once more in that same year.”
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