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THE Water Department will try to keep tabs on the condition of any roads, excavated to repair, or install, its underground distribution line, to ensure that they are properly reinstated.

To this end, the agency has called on its maintenance contractors to attend to these stretches in a timely fashion, where possible, to minimise the inconvenience caused to motorists. 

The management company (MC) for a Penampang residential property, on the other hand, has vowed to step up efforts to maintain the roads within its compound.

This follows separate feedback about the frustrations which drivers faced while using roads in Taman Kuala Manggatal Phase 3 and Country Heights Apartments.

A homeowner at the former bemoaned the roadwoes caused by work to deal with a leaking pipe running beneath Lorong Kuala Manggatal 19. The occupant of a unit at the Apartments, meanwhile, spokeout about the potholes which had formed in the stretch leading to the covered carpark for Block L. 

They feared that a bad accident could happen at any time, especially if motorists lost control of their vehicles while trying to avoid the damaged sections of these stretches.

Both individuals provided Hotline with the pertinent details, regarding their grievances, which were forwarded to the Department and MC.

A spokesman for the agency said its staff went to Taman Kuala Manggatal on the same day that the Department learned about what had transpired there.

“They noticed that part of Lorong Kuala Manggatal 19 had been left in a bad state,” he said. 

He said a check of the Department’s records showed that it had been dug up 10 days earlier as the 150milimetre Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined pipe underneath had sprung a leak.

“The contractor, assigned to attend to the pipe, had to allow the top soil to become compact before sealing the road.

“If bitumen had been applied right after the repairs had been completed, then there would have been every likelihood of a depression forming on the stretch.”

For whatever reason, he said, the contractor neglected to return when he should have to complete the roadwork.

Rainwater was observed to have collected in the damaged section in the meantime, according to him.

The spokesman said the contractor and his team went back a few days after the recent inspection. 

“Gravel was poured over the affected portion of the stretch, which was later levelled, before being sealed with some bitumen. An excavator was deployed to facilitate these efforts.” 

Meanwhile, the MC for Country Heights has patched up the damaged sections of the access roads to two blocks, including Block L, at the Apartments with concrete.

A spokesman for the company said this was done to offer drivers some relief from the nuisance created by the potholes in these stretches.

He said a check made in early October revealed that the damage could be the result of water ponding on the roads during a downpour.

“We may have the pipes beneath these stretches replaced so that the run-off can be more effectively channelled away to the nearest monsoon drain,” he said.

“If we decide to proceed, the affected roads will be excavated in stages to install new perforated pipes.”

He said the stretches would be resurfaced from end to end once the drainage problem had been addressed.

“We hope to have a fresh layer of asphalt applied to these roads as soon as possible.”