LOTS OF CLEANUP AND REPAIR WORK TO DO AT OLD SLIPWAY SANDAKAN

Leaking manhole overflowing onto the street

SANDAKAN: There is an awful lot of cleaning up and repairs to be done at the Old Slipway area in Sandakan town.Head of Sandakan Municipal Council (MPS) Highway and Public Utilities Committee Taren Sunil Manoharan disclosed after inspecting the area together with Tanjung Papat CDO Maxmillon Lee on Monday.

“It was very disturbing to see people throwing rubbish down from their apartments. The trash will eventually end up in the drains and cause blockage that could lead to flash floods,” said Taren Sunil

Taren pointed out that dustbins are available in the area but some of them have not been properly cleared and cleaned.

“We have reminded contractor Alam Motivasi to do the necessary,” he said.

Taren expressed surprise that one of the main roads in the area which was upgraded a few years ago, has a drain only on one side. This has resulted in a continuous flow of filthy water across the road to the other side which has a drain.

They also found a truck parked right on top of what appeared to be a water or valve chamber for a fire hydrant. The cover was covered in mud.

“We will ask the Fire and Rescue Department to check and confirm this and then put up a notice to remind motorists not to park atop or in any way block access to this underground chamber,” added Taren Sunil.

“I have to admit that there are a lot of shortcomings in the maintenance of facilities in this area. For a start better road maintenance is needed. There are potholes, big and small, in several places,” he said.

He pointed to the walkways which are filthy from overflowing manholes and broken down-flowing pipes coming from the many blocks of apartments.

The Public Works Department will be requested to check the condition of the manholes and MPS will have to look into replacing the rusted pipes.

The team also found water from a nearby hill flowing right through the “Pencawang” built by Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd for the Slipway area.

“A solution will have to be worked out before the place becomes a muddy puddle,” said Taren Sunil.

It was also observed that dirty water was flowing all the way down from some units of the apartments and nobody seemed to care or bother about it.

Taren said this will also need attention before the street below becomes dirty, wet and slippery.

He lamented that the endless cleanup work done by the various local authorities will never be enough as long as there are irresponsible people who do not change their mindset.

“Wear and tear can be accepted as everything will break down, rot or decay with time but littering and dumping trash all over the place is simply a nasty habit. Such bad behaviour must be changed as it negatively affects the entire community,” he stressed.