Handout photo shows the recent pipe burst at Jalan Ulu Sungai Merah.
SIBU (May 1): Deputy Minister of Public Health, Housing and Local Government Datuk Michael Tiang and the relevant authorities need to act on the complaints of Jalan Ulu Sungai Merah residents on the frequent water pipe bursts caused by the ongoing construction, said Irene Chang.
The former Bukit Assek assemblywoman said they should also regularly check with the construction teams to avoid such incidents and other utility disruptions from happening again.
“Utility disruption during road construction can be costly as well as cause delays, utility wastage and inconvenience to the public,” she said in a statement.
Since the commencement of the Jalan Ulu Sungai Merah upgrading project on April 17, Chang said there have been three water pipe bursts which led to water supply being cut off to some households.
“According to the complaints that I received, the first water pipe burst happened at SMK Ulu Sungai Merah on April 20. The water supply was completely cut off at around 3pm and was not fully restored until 6pm the next day.
“The second burst was on April 27, and the third was on April 28,” she said, adding the bursts had caused inconvenience and frustration among the residents, especially because they occurred on the weekend when most families would normally be at home.
She said while it is good that the project to widen the road is taking off and that some inconvenience to nearby residents and road users is to be expected during the period, it was completely unacceptable if the three water pipe bursts were all caused by the construction, which had only recently started.
Chang also questioned whether thorough inspection of all existing infrastructure were carried out before the works started to minimise such incidents.
She said the residents had expressed concern that if this continues, they will have to face with many disruptions to their water supply and other utilities during the construction, which is reported to be completed in two years.
“This would be totally unacceptable and make people wonder if there was any proper planning and coordination done between the construction teams and utility providers before and during the construction.