CITY HALL staff will step up efforts to check on the condition of backyard drains within its rating area and arrange to have these structures cleared if necessary.
The agency also urged the government concessionaire to equally diligent when it comes to looking after the drains in front of homes around the State Capital.
This action was prompted by feedback about the lack of maintenance carried out on a backyard drain in an Inanam neighbourhood and another in front of a home in a Likas housing area.
The ratepayers, who spoke out about this irregularity, separately provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding their grievances, which were forwarded to City Hall.
A spokesman for City Hall’s “Jabatan Perkhidmatan Pembersihan Bandaraya (Urban Cleanliness Department, UCD)” explained that the concessionaire was responsible for maintaining the drains on either side of housing roads, while the agency looked after those at the back of residences.
The former amenities were cleaned according to a fixed schedule, according to him, with the same being done to the latter once every six months.
He said inspections were made of Taman Kingfisher Park and Taman Likas Jaya, shortly after the agency was contacted by the media.
“We were made to understand that a foul smell had been wafting over from the direction of drains behind Lorong Kingfisher 18A and along Lorong Burung Kenari 2.”
He said the homeowner at the first location had observed that the water in the drain outside her fence did not to recede even during the present dry spell.
Her counterpart in Likas, on the other hand, suspected that the thick layers of mud might have settled at the bottom of the roadside drain, closest to her premises, according to the spokesman.
He said this rate-payer was under the impression that the sediment could be to blame for the stench which occasionally permeated her living room.
He said UCD staff confirmed that parts of both drains were clogged with weeds and water vegetation.
City Hall’s Drain Unit attended to the affected drain in Taman Kingfisher Park, which spanned a distance of some 247.4metres, a few days later.
“Eight of our workers used ‘cangkuls (hoes)’ to de-silt the structure and clear the weeds which had formed inside.”
He said a four-tonne truck was deployed to facilitate efforts to remove the debris from the work.
“The Unit has been asked to check on the condition of the backyard drains in the neighbourhood, from time to time, to ensure that any blockages are dealt with accordingly.”
In the case of the drain in Taman Likas Jaya, the spokesman said the concessionaire was apprised of the UCD findings on Lorong Burung Kenari 2.
This housing road extended for some 227m, according to him.
“This is the most that we can do as the task of maintaining these amenity does not fall to City Hall.”
He said the agency learned that the company’s staff dredged out the weeds and silt at the base of the drain a day later.
