The Star, Thursday December 29, 2011
Landslide, flood and traffic take spotlight in Hulu Langat, Kajang and Seri Kembangan
FOR the working class, there would surely be audible
groans when they hear the sounds of the rolling thunder — especially in
the late afternoon.
Evening jams aside, what worries people most are the thunderstorms that could end in flash floods.
Early this month, an unusually heavy downpour transformed Kajang town into a sea and left many people reeling from losses to their properties and businesses.
Vehicles parked in the basement of a shopping mall were like ducks taking to the water that was as high as 1.5m. This brought extensive damage to the cars, goods and roads too.
There was a video of a barefooted woman stranded on top of a van that was half submerged in floodwaters.
Fortunately, she was rescued by several people who lowered a ladder from the upper floor of a shophouse to lift her to safety.
There were no casualties reported, but these are incidents that remind us that we should not take things lightly as it involves the livelihood of people and pose danger to their lives.
The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) flood management division director Datuk Zainor Rahim Ibrahim said smooth water flow in Sungai Jelok was restricted by rubbish that had clogged up the river and drains in the town.
However, this was denied by Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) president Datuk Hassan Nawawi Abdul Rahman, who said it was a result of excessive amount of rainfall.
For the people in Kajang, this serves as a lesson on civic consciousness — proper disposal of waste — though it is the responsibility of the local council to clean the drains periodically.
Restaurants must stop discarding their leftovers into the drains at the backlanes.
In the recent MPKj full board meeting, Hassan warned that heavy rainfall over Kajang has been predicted in March next year.
He added that as precautionary measures, Sungai Jelok would be widened by four metres and the bridge near the wet market in Kajang town would be raised by two metres.
With the new measures promised, let us hope that the proposed measures would be effective and the recent flood is something of the past.
Another disaster that is still fresh on the minds of the people is the landslide that hit an orphanage home in Hulu Langat on May 21. This incident claimed the lives of 16 people.
The building, with its foundation built on a slope of more than 80 degrees with no retaining wall, was constructed without approval.
Many have been said on the issue but Malaysians need to be reminded once again to learn from the past and be sensitive to the environment as thoughtless destruction of nature will always come back to haunt us.
Meanwhile, over in Seri Kembangan, traffic congestion remains a headache for the residents in the township.
Jalan Besar, as the main “artery” in the area is choked heavily with traffic.
It does not help when inconsiderate motorists park their cars haphazardly on both sides of the narrow road near the morning market.
It seems that selfish Malaysians will never learn to be thoughtful for other road users.
As for public transportation, LRT and MRT services will not be coming into this township. The nearest KTM commuter stations for the residents are Bandar Tasik Selatan and Serdang (near The Mines shopping centre) while LRT stations are Bukit Jalil and Sungai Besi.
The residents can only pray and keep their fingers crossed for smoother traffic with several proposals to improve the flow are being considered.
One good news is that the Cabinet has finally agreed in principal to construct an access road from Serdang to the Maju Expressway (MEX).
MEX is a 26km expressway connecting Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya to KLIA. Although it passes Seri Kembangan, there is no interchange for this area.
Serdang MCA chairman Datuk Liew Yuen Keong said the access road was estimated to cost RM50mil when it was first brought up in 2007 but has ballooned to RM90mil.
Hopefully, it would not be another four years before the link is finally built and open for use.
Evening jams aside, what worries people most are the thunderstorms that could end in flash floods.
Early this month, an unusually heavy downpour transformed Kajang town into a sea and left many people reeling from losses to their properties and businesses.
Vehicles parked in the basement of a shopping mall were like ducks taking to the water that was as high as 1.5m. This brought extensive damage to the cars, goods and roads too.
There was a video of a barefooted woman stranded on top of a van that was half submerged in floodwaters.
Fortunately, she was rescued by several people who lowered a ladder from the upper floor of a shophouse to lift her to safety.
There were no casualties reported, but these are incidents that remind us that we should not take things lightly as it involves the livelihood of people and pose danger to their lives.
The Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) flood management division director Datuk Zainor Rahim Ibrahim said smooth water flow in Sungai Jelok was restricted by rubbish that had clogged up the river and drains in the town.
However, this was denied by Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) president Datuk Hassan Nawawi Abdul Rahman, who said it was a result of excessive amount of rainfall.
For the people in Kajang, this serves as a lesson on civic consciousness — proper disposal of waste — though it is the responsibility of the local council to clean the drains periodically.
Restaurants must stop discarding their leftovers into the drains at the backlanes.
In the recent MPKj full board meeting, Hassan warned that heavy rainfall over Kajang has been predicted in March next year.
He added that as precautionary measures, Sungai Jelok would be widened by four metres and the bridge near the wet market in Kajang town would be raised by two metres.
With the new measures promised, let us hope that the proposed measures would be effective and the recent flood is something of the past.
Another disaster that is still fresh on the minds of the people is the landslide that hit an orphanage home in Hulu Langat on May 21. This incident claimed the lives of 16 people.
The building, with its foundation built on a slope of more than 80 degrees with no retaining wall, was constructed without approval.
Many have been said on the issue but Malaysians need to be reminded once again to learn from the past and be sensitive to the environment as thoughtless destruction of nature will always come back to haunt us.
Meanwhile, over in Seri Kembangan, traffic congestion remains a headache for the residents in the township.
Jalan Besar, as the main “artery” in the area is choked heavily with traffic.
It does not help when inconsiderate motorists park their cars haphazardly on both sides of the narrow road near the morning market.
It seems that selfish Malaysians will never learn to be thoughtful for other road users.
As for public transportation, LRT and MRT services will not be coming into this township. The nearest KTM commuter stations for the residents are Bandar Tasik Selatan and Serdang (near The Mines shopping centre) while LRT stations are Bukit Jalil and Sungai Besi.
The residents can only pray and keep their fingers crossed for smoother traffic with several proposals to improve the flow are being considered.
One good news is that the Cabinet has finally agreed in principal to construct an access road from Serdang to the Maju Expressway (MEX).
MEX is a 26km expressway connecting Kuala Lumpur to Putrajaya, and Cyberjaya to KLIA. Although it passes Seri Kembangan, there is no interchange for this area.
Serdang MCA chairman Datuk Liew Yuen Keong said the access road was estimated to cost RM50mil when it was first brought up in 2007 but has ballooned to RM90mil.
Hopefully, it would not be another four years before the link is finally built and open for use.
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