Main roads in Sipitang, Penampang being closely monitored
Published on: Thursday, January 04, 2024
By: Sidney Skinner
The concessionaire’s personnel getting ready to patch up this section of Jalan Lintas Sipitang.
THE Public Works Department (PWD) will step up its surveillance of a Sipitang main road to ensure that any damage is dealt with promptly, while the District Council has vowed to do the same when it comes to the stretch in a Penampang neighbourhood.
The former agency finished dealing with a bulge and cracks which had formed on the surface of Jalan Lintas Sipitang yesterday. The latter, on the other hand, repaired the potholes on Lorong Mutiara Kobusak last week.
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This action was prompted by feedback from a motorist living in Kg Lumut and another from Taman Mutiara about the inconvenience caused by the various road-related irregularities.
They related their grievances separately to Hotline, providing the location of the affected sections of both stretches. This information was forwarded to the PWD and the Council.
The Council’s workers in the midst of repairing Lorong Mutiara Kobusak.
A Department spokesman said its concessionaire had been roped in to deal with the road woes in Sipitang.
“The company has been attending to the section near the roundabout along the section of Jalan Lintas Sipitang, from Kg Lumut to Mile One, since last week,” he said.
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“The bulge was removed and gravel was poured over this part of the road, as well as the depression nearby, just before the New Year break.”
He said “Caution” signs were put up near the site to forewarn road-users of the uneven surface of the road.
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A spokesman for the company said premix was poured over a five metre width of the stretch on Tuesday.
“A six-man team was involved in patching up the damage.”
He said maintenance was routinely carried out on the road as and when it warranted doing so.
“We have a supervisor who goes around the district each week to check on the condition of the various stretches which are under our care.
“Any irregularities are dealt with, on a case by case basis, depending on the severity of the damage observed.”
He said the company looked after the Department’s roads from Km 36, near the boundary between Tenom and Sipitang, to Kg Melalia and onwards to Sindumin.
When asked about the potential causes for the bulging road surface, the spokesman explained that it generally occurred at points where a vehicle pulled its brakes, or at points where the asphalt met “rigid objects”.
He said ten tonne lorries were occasionally observed moving about Jalan Lintas Sipitang, between the village and Mile One to the Sindumin area.
The Department spokesman said its staff had been asked to periodically keep an eye on the movement of vehicles on this main road.
“If need be, we may seek the assistance of the Road Transport Department (RTD) to crack down on lorry-drivers whose vehicles carry more than their allowed weight,” he said.
A cross culvert is due to be installed beneath this housing road to mitigate the recurring road woes.
Under the RTD’s ordinance, drivers who transport more than the weight-allowance of their vehicles can be deemed to have committed an offence.
Offenders risk having to pay a fine of between RM1,000 – RM10,000 serve a prison sentence of up to a year or both.
Meanwhile, the District Council has patched up the damaged sections of Lorong Mutiara Kobusak and has included this potential refurbishment effort in its list of proposed works for 2024.
A spokesman for the agency said it was keen to address the “ponding problem” on the housing road as this had given rise to the inconvenience caused by the potholes which frequently formed on the stretch.
“Pools of rainwater collect on the road after a downpour,” he said. “
“The runoff occasionally takes days to dry up, during which time sections of the asphalt get eaten away by these fluids, leaving ‘holes’ in the road.
“We intend to have a cross culvert installed beneath the stretch to mitigate this ponding problem, before having Lorong Mutiara Kobusak resealed.”
The Council’s staff noted that the stretch was in a “keadaan teruk (deplorable condition)” as far back as the end of December 2022, according to the spokesman.
“They went back to measure the length of stretch and size of the potholes a month later.”
He said, at one point, over the intervening months, the agency had considered cementing the damaged sections of the road.
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