Taman Ukay Heights folk worry over mud flows and flash floods

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 21): Some residents at Taman Ukay Heights, Ampang are having big worries over mud flows and flash floods owing to a project site located uphill of the housing area, reported The Star today.

Ampang Jaya Municipal Council (MPAJ) has already slapped a temporary stop-work order on the project contractor for not following conditions stipulated for the work site.

According to the report, the stop-work order was issued owing to the “aggressive traffic flow of lorries and unsafe work conditions”.

And as a result of a heavy downpour over the city on Nov 11, residents here had to endure heavy mud flows down the slope which damaged their properties, with a retention wall of one of the houses collapsing.  

Residents here told the daily that “an estimated 60,000 tonnes of soil and rubble was dumped and loaded onto the slope skirting the ravine at Jalan Teberau”.

The residents also did their research, saying that “this figure was derived based on the number of lorries scarrying soil to the site”.

Minister of Housing and Local Government and Ampang lawmaker Zuraida Kamaruddin, who visited the area two days after mud flow incident, told the media that the ministry “would need to review and study ways to stop flash floods caused by activities at construction sites”.

A resident who did not want to be named told the daily that: “Many landowners develop and redevelop their land, as well as reconstruct their houses in big scale, and the neighbours patiently put up with the inconvenience.

“But this landowner has totally disregarded the effects of the activities to the surrounding.

“With an estimated 60,000 tonnes of earth uphill, it is like 60,000 cars waiting to come crashing down on my property.”

MPAJ has already asked those responsible to take remedial action quickly.

“We asked for the silt and debris from the drains to be cleared but not to be dumped back on the land. There must have been a mistake.

“MPAJ has also given approval to use tarpaulin sheets and cover the exposed earth as a temporary measure to prevent soil erosion.

“We have also planned for a meeting with the residents tomorrow to brief them about our findings and find a permanent solution,” said councillor D. Nallan.