Department, DBKK keeping tabs on manholes
Published on: Tuesday, August 01, 2023
By: Sidney Skinner
The sewage spilling onto the road has been a source of frustration to the public who frequent this Inanam commercial centre.
THE Sewage Services Department (SSD) and City Hall are keeping tabs on their respective assets in Dah Yeh Villa to ensure that manholes in the area do not overflow.The latter is also checking on a similar problem in one part of Inanam.ADVERTISEMENT
This action was prompted by feedback that effluent had been soiling the roads around commercial centres at both locations, with a Dah Yeh Villa office-worker and Inanam shop-owner bemoaning the nuisance created by the foul stench which permeated their premises.
They separately provided Hotline with the dates of these incidents, as well as the whereabouts of the affected manholes. This information was forwarded to both agencies.
SSD personnel checking on the operations of the installations at its Dah Yeh Villa pumping-station.
A SSD spokeswoman said a check of its records revealed that its Dah Yeh Villa pumping-station had been beset with electricity problems earlier this month.
“Our daily and stand-by pumps were unable to function as they should,” she said.ADVERTISEMENT
“This caused an overflow at the facility, which in turn triggered the irregularities involving the manholes along the access road to Wisma E-gate in the second and third week of July.”
She said the Department had enlisted the assistance of Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd to address the power woes at its pumping-station and the situation had since improved.
ADVERTISEMENT
A check made by our staff a week later showed that the facility was in good order. The supply had stabilised and both pumps were operating properly.”
When asked how often these devices, including their control-panel, were maintained, she said they were dealt with on a monthly basis.
The spokeswoman said the collapse of the sewer pipes in some parts of the State Capital had also given rise to the “overflow” at the pumping-station.
She admitted that, unlike previously, the pumps did not function round the clock because of efforts to deal with this damage.
“Since the Jalan Kota Kinabalu-Kudat Sewage Pipe Repair Project began in 2022, these devices have to be manually switched on and off.”
She said the SSD staff had been assigned to deactivate and reactivate the pump.
“They are supposed to do this according to a schedule every day, even on weekends and public holidays.
“Should they fail to check-in at our pump-stations as they should, then sewerage-irregularities might be triggered in some parts of the City.
“For instance, the manholes on some main roads might start to overflow.
“Our personnel have been reminded not to be tardy in dealing with the pumps to minimise the chances of this happening.
She said the Department was working together with its peers at City Hall to co-ordinate the timing of those pumps which were maintained by the latter agency.
“This will minimise any inconvenience caused to the public while the upgrading work is still in progress.”
The spokeswoman explained that the project involved upgrading the pipes in 11 separate sections, which spanned a total of 955 metres.
“We are in the midst of refurbishing the sewer line along several main roads in Kota Kinabalu, including Jalan Teluk Likas, Jalan Tun Fuad Stephens and Jalan Tuaran Lama.
Workers with City Hall’s contractor check on the condition of the sewer-line for Wisma E-gate.
“Some of the sewer lines are in urgent need of rehabilitation as they have deteriorated due to wear and tear,” she said.
“The pipes, in certain places beneath the roads involved, have collapsed because of their age and the corrosive impact of the effluent inside.”
Barring any unforeseen circumstances, she said, the SSD tentatively hoped to finish refurbishing the sewerage system in these areas by September.
“The upgrading is being implemented with funds from the Ministry of Finance, under the ‘Rancangan Malaysia ke-12 (Twelfth Malaysia Plan)’.”
A spokesman for City Hall’s Engineering Department said the agency had been aware of the overflowing manholes, both outside and inside the compound, at Wisma E-gate.
“We alerted the SSD to what was happening after our maintenance contractor confirmed that this problem was not related to our sewerline for the commercial centre,” he said.
“The individual’s staff went back to the building after we were contacted by the media.”
They observed that effluent was no longer soiling the common area, according to him.
“When they opened some of the manholes, they found that the level of sewage was way below the brim.
The spokesman said a similar inspection would be made of Lorong Cempedak 6A at the HSK Industrial Centre in Inanam to verify claims that effluent was pooling on this road.
“Should the pipes underneath be blocked, then the contractor will arrange to have ‘sewer-rodding’ performed to try and dislodge these obstructions,” he said.
“The individual will also be asked to determine if our pump in the area may have tripped and to reactivate it, if this was the case.”
Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
