FRIDAY-7TH DECEMBER 2007-MUDFLOWS AFFECTING NEW BUKIT HARAPAN CENTRE

KOTA KINABALU:
Bukit Harapan’s new premise at the Mile 4, Tuaran bypass, is becoming unsafe for the underprivileged folks there - all because of mudflows from an adjoining construction site.
Apparently unsupervised earthworks at the construction site atop a hill are causing the mud to flow into the compound during heavy rain. Hence, the children, some of who are wheelchair-bound, spastics as well as single mothers seeking asylum there, fear for their safety each time it rains heavily.
“The mudflow hit our fencing so hard before resting inside our perimeter drain,” lamented the Centre’s founder, Anne Keyworth, whom everyone calls Mama Anne. The centre has spent more than RM500,000 for the RM1.9 million home sprawled over 1.6 acres allocated by the State government. Anne and several staff are taking care of some 50 physically disabled children.
She said the water inside the concrete drain also could not discharge into the main drain because the drain is clogged with debris washed down from the construction site. All kinds of sediments including cut branches aside from mud had completely blanketed the drain,” she said, and questioned whether the developer would assume responsibility if there was a dengue outbreak at the centre.
Aggravating the situation was that some of the stones swept down by the mudflow had rested against the fencing. “It is just a matter of time before the structure collapse as it can no longer sustain the weight of the stones,” she stressed.
Mama Anne pointed out that some of the children staying in the domicile located near the hillside where the mud water is prone to gush down towards the centre would not be able to evacuate in time in the event of prolonged heavy rain.
“They won’t be able to leave the area due to their physical condition,” she said and urged the contractor responsible for the housing project atop the hill to find a way to divert the excess rainwater from the site elsewhere.
“The contractor simply must come up with a permanent solution to this problem,” she added. A spokesman for the project’s developer apologised to Mama Anne and the folks in the centre for the hardship they faced as a result of the mudflow.
“‘We are very much aware of the situation and in fact the main contractor for the project had dug a huge and deep trench at a section of the hill to prevent the mudflow affecting the centre,” he said.
He said the recent inclement weather condition hampered efforts to create the trench. It is dangerous for the workers to undertake the work when it rains because the ground tends to be very slippery,” he added. Besides, it was difficult to dig a large gap on that hilly ground during such weather condition.
“The workers relied on their hands to dig that portion of the land and not by using excavator because such machinery cannot access that plot,” he said.
As for the drain in question, the spokesman said the workers would be told to clear the soil which had fallen into that structure soon.