Bung should help compensate victims
Published on: Sunday, December 12, 2021
Text Size:
The Moyog One bridge site near Monsopiad appeared abandoned on 6 December with not a soul on site, hence the photographs.
At the right bank (pic 1), the rock protection is intruding at least one metre into the river and not reinstating the original river bank slope.
The columns are not located at the original river edge but well into the water line, but now it looks like the river bank is adjusted to suit the bridge.
Drainage and Irrigation Dept (DID) engineers would understand even the bridge piers or columns are blocking water flow.
Hence the river should be widened. But bridge engineers in this country couldnt care less.
On the left bank (pic 2), the earth construction platform is still there with only the sheet piles removed. Obviously it is still needed to construct the pier cap or headstock, so why arent they preparing the formworks now?
Unless the contractors and consultants are still arguing what to do with one column which seems to be out of alignment.
The design of all the three bridges across the Moyog River and the fly-over across the existing highway is exactly the same, save lots of cost for contractors as fewer equipments will be needed. Let me remind JKR and “Pain Borneo” engineers that the river widens as it approaches the sea since it is collecting more water along the way, and they ought to know this is the only river that drains the whole of the Penampang plain.
Since the bridges are of exactly the same dimensions and span, are the Pain Borneo engineers adjusting the river width to suit the bridges instead of bridges designed to suit the river?
They should not cause any “Kesempitan” to occur under any circumstance as DID has been urged by everyone to widen and deepen the river instead. I, therefore, call the Deputy Director who made the famous statement “Kami tiada buat kesempitan sungai” to accept the challenge by an ordinary Kg Kolopis man to measure on site.
You provide a boat, I will bring my waterproof tape measure. Invite all the other relevant departments, District Officer and Works Minister Bung to the ceremony. A videographer will be available to record the event.
At Kg Hubah, the overpass columns are drilled on the third lane meant for villagers to slow down to enter village roads. What a waste of tax money. Is this lane going to be closed just because of “Pain Borneo”?
This project appears to be implemented via government direct appointments of turnkey contractors who design and build as they pleased, even ignoring JKR proven road building guidelines.
The progress is at a snail’s pace, with lots of errors, inconveniences and pain to the people affected, hence the name “Pain Borneo” is apt.
The Deputy Director said a “Perunding” has been appointed to look into compensation claims due to excessive floods caused by this project. An insurance expert friend told me the job of these perundings and assessors are to find ways “not to pay”. They will only waste the victims’ time to run around submitting proofs and evidence of damages in order to frustrate them and give up.
Instead, I suggest this Director simply ask the Works Minister to get a few million additional funds from federal and pay a reasonable sum to all flood victims in Penampang or else ...
Since the dialogue on 18th October, only the Environment Department have been seen by Kolopis folks sending a vanload of officers to the site to inspect and monitor. Where are the rest??
Kampung Engineer, Penampang.
ADVERTISEMENT
