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AFTER more than a year, City Hall has finally had grates fitted into the exposed sections of a concrete pavement in the Kg Air area.

The agency also attended to a section of the verge in a Luyang neighbourhood which had given way.

This action was prompted by feedback from a Kg Air proprietor and Taman Milek homeowner about the danger spots in these respective areas.

The former said the two holes in the 25metre pavement had gradually been getting bigger, since they first appeared in the five-foot-way in the middle of 2024.

The latter, meanwhile, feared that those going for a stroll around the housing area, or children playing on the roadside, might unwittingly come to harm if they fell into the deep hole on the government land.

Both rate-payers provided Hotline with the pertinent details, regarding their grievances, which were forwarded to City Hall.

A spokesman for its Engineering Department said inspections were made of Lorong Haji Yaakub in the State Capital and Lorong Gunung Ledang in Taman Milek, shortly thereafter.

“Our staff confirmed the presence of the exposed sections in both these places,” he said. 

“A plastic conduit, which had been bent in two, was placed it in one of the holes on the Kg Air pavement. A rotten piece of wood was found covering the other.”

A tree branch, on the other hand, was found sticking out of “the hole” on the Luyang verge, according to him. 

“We suspect that the soil beneath the verge may have been displaced by the fluids which could have escaped at some point from the pipe buried beneath the road-shoulder.”

He said action was taken on the spot to temporarily mitigate the hazards posed by the problems at both public spaces.

“The hole on the road reserve was cordoned off behind some security tape for the time being.  We intend to fill up the exposed section with earth soon, In the interest of preserving safety of the public in Taman Milek.”

The spokesman said pieces of plywood were placed over the holes in the Kg Air pavement in September.

“Some security tape was used to mark both sheets of wood with an ‘X’ to forewarn those going on foot not to step on these portions of the pavement.”

He said the agency’s technicians had “open mesh fibreglass gratings” put in place at the exposed sections of the walkway last week.

When asked about the lengthy hold up in dealing with this problem, he said budgetary constraints prevented the agency from making immediate repairs to the five-foot-way. 

He explained that maintenance was carried out on the pavements, including metal grills and concrete slabs, placed over the drains around the City on an ad hoc basis.

“This work is carried out when it warrants doing so. To this end, our staff have been asked to make periodic checks of the common areas around the shophouses in Kg

Air to ensure that the pavements are in good order.”

Similar inspections would also be made of the road-shoulders around Taman Milek, according to him.

He said one of its contractors dealt with the hole in the verge along Lorong Gunung Ledang on Saturday.

“Some crusher run was brought to the site with an open truck. This material was later poured into the exposed section. 

“The contractor’s workers used spades to pat down and level the debris.”