LANDSLIDES AND SLOPE EROSIONS AT TRIG HILL, SM SUNG SIEW AND SINGAPORE ROAD AREAS CAUSE CONCERN

Rubbish bin area that needs a cleanup

SANDAKAN: In its continuous effort to uplift Sandakan, the Highway and Public Utilities Committee (HPUC) members have made a site visit to the vicinity around Trig Hill, SM Sung Siew and Singapore Road and identified several problems that needed attention.

“Being a rather hilly area with a number of steep slopes, landslides and erosions are quite common here and we have to ensure that they are under control,” noted Taren Sunil Manoharan, Head of HPUC.

Landslide at Trig Hill, Sandakan

They inspected a serious landslide at Trig Hill. There was also a major wall collapse and several smaller slope erosions at several places.

“We are going to take urgent action at the location of the landslide. It has affected part of the road and poses great danger, especially for motorists. We are here to tackle problems before they get out of hand if left unattended,” Taren Sunil assured.

Serious landslide at Trig Hill that requires immediate attention

He added that HPUC will have to discuss matters with the relevant authorities and stakeholders on how best to repair and, where possible, prevent recurrence of such problems, especially the cases of landslides and erosions. However, he admitted that whatever is done, sometimes the force of mother nature cannot be overcome.

A serious wall collapse

“Storms and floods will cause damage that we humans cannot possibly foresee or prevent,” he conceded.

Slope erosion at Singapore Road that needs attention

The team also took note of another dirty rubbish bin site as well as never ending issue of blocked drains. These will be cleaned up “As the Committee within SMC responsible for helping to clean up our town we have a tough job to do but we are giving it our best shot to make Sandakan one of the cleanest towns in Sabah. And we definitely need public support for this,” he stressed.