PENAMPANG: Poorly maintained drains caused the flash floods in Kg Kibabaig, here.
This flash floods occurred in the village, particularly in Taman Country Shangri-la, on Friday where water levels did not start receding until almost 24 hours later.
The Penampang District Council has revealed it’s weakness and inefficiency when it failed to attend duly to complaints from Kg Kibabaig residents over poorly maintained drains, said Moyog Assemblyman, Terrence Siambun.
Equally at fault is the Public Works Department for ignoring to clean and clear the drainage alongside the main road.
Kibabaig is notorious for being flood-prone but this most recent occurrence could have been so easily avoided, he said.
“If the District Officer had listened to the people of Kibabaig who urged the local authorities two months earlier to clear the clogged drains, the situation on Friday would not have been so terrible,” he said in a statement on Sunday.
Instead, the villagers and residents of Taman Country Shangri-la were given empty promises that it would be done.
They were also told that their problems would end by Nov of 2019 when the Moyog flood mitigation project is expected to be completed.
Siambun spells out several reasons for the artificial floods, the main one being poor drainage and unsystematic development planning.
There is also the absence or lack of drainage maintenance on the part of the council.
“The drains are clogged with earth from hill cutting being done nearby about 200m frm Taman Country Shangri-la.
“This has made it difficult for water to find its way to nearby tributaries,” he said.
Heavy downpour started just before 3pm on Friday and lasted for more than two hours.
In Kibabaig, water levels along the two-kilometre Jalan Datuk Panglima Banting did not start to recede until afternoon the next day and to make matters worse, there are no streetlights making it a dangerous drive for motorists at night.
“Flooding has become the order of the day in Kibabaig due to poor drainage system and the council’s failure to intervene quickly,” said Siambun.-PR/BNN
