KOTA KINABALU: The City Hall will undertake several measures to ease the flooding situation at the Anglican Church compound, as a result of the closure of the drainage outlet by a nearby construction site.
A temporary measure would include creating a drainage discharge through the compound of the Karamunsing police station, which also serves to collect rain surface water from the church compound.
In this respect, the City Hall has written to the Sabah Police Commissioner’s office to seek permission to allow the construction of a discharge drain from the church compound through the Karamunsing police headquarters compound. Construction work is expected to begin once the approval has been obtained.
Mayor Datuk Abidin who inspected the site on Wednesday, found that the high stagnant flood water level affecting the area, was a result of the drainage outlet near Jalan Tun Razak being closed by the nearby construction site.
According to a church spokesman who met the Mayor and his engineers at the site, this is the first time that the water level in the area has reached a very high level, which has not subsided even after three days.
To address the problem in the long run, the City Hall is also looking at tunneling a drainage discharge across Jalan Kemajuan to the Sembulan river.
Although the cost involved would be high, Abidin said this would be a long-term measure to solve the drainage problem in the nearby area that involved the church, the police station and the nearby school.
He said for this project, the City Hall would apply to the State Government to enable them to undertake the project.
As an immediate action, a drainage discharge along Jalan Tun Razak and connects to the existing culvert crossing towards Api Api Centre, would also be constructed by an adjacent developer, to reduce the level of flood water in the area.
The Mayor said work on this drainage discharge route can start immediately after consultation with the Public Works Departments as the improvement work is located along their road reserves.