KOTA KINABALU: City Hall has been called to give some serious thought on how to end the problem of floodings in Kepayan Ridge everytime it rains heavily.
“Everytime there is heavy downpour, all the drains in Kepayan Ridge area are quickly overflowed and flooding of houses, roads and sometimes cars being submerged, have become the norm here. We cannot live with these miseries forever,” said Donny Yapp, a spokesman for the community in the area.
Yapp who is also a deputy-treasurer of Consumer Affair and Protection Society of Sabah (CAPS) said residents in Kepayan Ridge area are fuming that the authority has failed to find a solution to the problem.
“Perhaps City Hall should monitor their cleaning contractors to check whether clogged drains were being cleaned sufficiently or whether there is a need to build better and deeper drainage systems or come up with a logical flood mitigation system,” Yapp said in a statement.
According to Yapp, on receiving complaints from residents and friends, he had gone down to several affected places during the current rainy season, and found out that drains were either clogged with earth and rubbish or overgrown with grass.
“I have pictures of these places and I will show them to the authorities if they come and see me,” he said.
Many ground floor units of the old low-cost Kepayan Ridge apartments are badly affected by floods for as many years one living in the area can count.
“It is also not fair for those people who continue to pay for their house assessment rates to City Hall every year when their dwellings continue to be put under such sorry conditions especially when it is still possible to find solutions,” he added.