THE Municipal Council is deliberating over how to deal with the runoff-related problems which have been inconveniencing two Penampang rate-payers.
This follows feedback about the water damage which has occurred inside a semidetached house on Lorong Bel’Drees 4 in the Kibabaig area, as well as the ponding problem which often arises on Lorong Suria in Kobusak, during a downpour.
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The affected homeowners provided Hotline with the pertinent details which were forwarded to the agency.
A Council spokesman said it was attempting to determine how the runoff was infiltrating the complainant’s unit on Lorong Bel’Drees 4.
“Once we have isolated the cause only then can we decide on the best course of action to redress this situation,” he said.
“We are trying to establish if any modifications have to been made to original designs of the semi-detached houses in question and if this might have given rise to the water damage.”
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NELLIE of Penampang was under the impression that rainwater rushing down the roof of the empty lot next door had had a negative on her residence.
“Moisture has been seeping through some parts of my ceiling,” she said.
Owing to this, she said, unsightly stains have formed in those sections of the walls which were closer to the floor.
“Worse still, the rainwater has even trickled down to the area where the fuse-box for my unit has been placed. I fear that at some point me or some member my family might be electrocuted.”
Nellie claimed to have made the Council aware of her anxieties on two separate occasions earlier this year.
“The authority has done little to assist me as the water damage in my unit has only become more pronounced since then.”
The spokesman said an inspection was made of Lorong Bel’Drees 4 shortly after the agency was contacted by the media.
“Our staff found a notice from our Valuation Division, with a December date, stuck to the fence of the unoccupied house,” he said.
“The owner was instructed to clear and maintain his/ her compound as it was badly overgrown. He/ she had clearly fulfilled this request. The greenery in the yard looked as if it had been sprayed with some sort of herbicide.”
He said an occupant from the unit beside this one came to speak with the Council’s staff during this inspection.
“We were made to understand that the owner of the vacant house was based overseas.”
Where Lorong Suria was concerned, the spokesman said surveillance carried out by the Council’s staff revealed that runoff had a tendency to pool on the stretch when it rained heavily.
He said they theorised that there might be insufficient outlets to channel away the rainwater from the road to the drain nearby.
“One way to ease the ponding problem may be to have more weep holes put in place here,” he said.
“Weep holes” were small openings fashioned into the pavement and other structures, like retaining walls, that allowed rainwater to drain away, according to him.
He said the agency’s personnel also observed that many of the existing “weep holes” along the stretch were clogged with grass.
“We will have a word with the government concessionaire about removing the grass which has sprung up on the edges of the road and grown into the weep holes.”
When asked about the claim that a residential development, coming up in this part of Kobusak, could be contributing to the drainage woes, the spokesman said the rate-payer’s misgivings were not misplaced.
“The developer has placed a submersible pump in a drain near the construction site. During a downpour, the device is activated to manage the level of runoff flowing through the structure.”
He said the company had been reminded to ensure that its workers did not grow lax about switching on the pump.
“On top of this, our staff have been asked to periodically keep an eye on the drainage here to ensure that our rate-payers are not unduly inconvenienced by the water ponding on the road.”
