Pix by Ahmad Adil Muhamad
THE alarming conditions of the drainage system at a construction site in Paya Terubong prompted Penang Island City Council (MBPP) mayor Datuk Maimunah Mohd Sharif to personally inspect the area on Nov 22 with her officers.
Speaking to the press after almost an hour of viewing the site at Bukit Kukus and making a comparison with submitted plans by the developer, the mayor voiced her dissatisfaction with the drainage system which is not up to mark and urged the developer to take the necessary remedial steps on the cascading muddy water from the construction site.
“I have instructed the developer to cover all exposed surfaces of the hill-slope where construction work has been completed and to add two additional water retention ponds for filtering purposes, thus making the total number of such detention ponds to five,” she said.
“The developer, moreover, has been told to make sure the water filtering system is more efficient using check dams and layers of geotextiles to sieve the muddy water and for more frequent maintenance work for the existing detention ponds,” she added.
Maimunah was accompanied by MBPP Engineering Department director Addnan Mohd Razali and his deputy A. Rajendran.
In view of the severity of the flow of muddy water, Maimunah also added that periodic inspections would be carried out from time to time to keep the developer in check.
“The council will not hesitate to take stern action such as the issuance of a Stop Work Notice if the flow of muddy water were to continue at this site. The council wants the water from the construction site which flows into the drainage system to be within acceptable limits and not at its current brownish state similar to ‘coffee with milk’,” she added.
A follow up inspection would be carried out on Dec 14 to make sure the developer complied with the directives of the MBPP.