The floods at Jalan Sungai Dua in Penang during a heavy downpour today were partly due to an overflowing retention pond at the USM campus, the chairman of a nearby apartment complex that suffered major damage said today.
The Sri Saujana apartment complex near USM suffered thousands of ringgit worth of damages – not for the first time – as floods knocked out power to the entire complex and even the back-up generator. The outdoor car park at the basement level was almost completely submerged as surrounding drains were unable to cope with rising water.
Just a few months ago, the Sri Saujana residents’ committee chairman, Robert Ooi, had written to the DID and USM about the retention pond, telling them of the complex’s previous experiences with floods, which resulted in tens of thousands of ringgit worth of damages for the residents.
The DID sent an officer to inspect the premises and the department then wrote to Ooi, agreeing that the source of the problem was the USM retention pond. But the DID pinned the problem on surrounding drains outside DID jurisdiction (including inside the apartment complex), which it said were not large enough to cope.
USM, for its part, failed to reply. This is not the first time that the overflowing USM retention pond has resulted in major damage to the apartment complex. Similar floods occurred in 1997 and on other occasions including last year. But today’s was among the worst.
When contacted tonight, Sim Tze Tzin, the Bayan Baru MP who visited the area this evening, said three factors contributed to the flooding along Jalan Sungai Dua: the heavy downpour, the breaching of the USM retention pond and a culvert (which apparently comes under JKR jurisdiction) that is not big enough for the drain crossing under Jalan Sungai Dua from USM.
The USM public relations section, meanwhile, sent an sms to Sim, part of which read: “Anyway, USM authority really concern and prihatin terhadap apa jua isu setempat. Namun ia perlu diteliti dgn mdalam krn ia juga melibatkan pelbagai pihak lain yg perlu diselaras, apatah lagi setelah lebih 40 tahun, tdpt juga byk perubahan sekitarnya terutamany pembangunan yg pesat berlaku di dlm dan di luar kampus USM. USM akan terus mencari jln mengatasinya sebaik mungkin. Menuding jari bukan jln terbaik utk menyelesai masalah. TK”
For a start, the buck has to stop somewhere. USM should reply to the residents’ committee and tell them exactly what they are going to do to control the retention pond on its premises.
And something has to be done to the surrounding drains along Jalan Sungai Dua to cope with any excess flow from USM.
Jalan Sungai Dua - Photo credit: The Star
The flooded basement level car park of the apartment complex along Jalan Sungai Dua
Just a few months ago, the Sri Saujana residents’ committee chairman, Robert Ooi, had written to the DID and USM about the retention pond, telling them of the complex’s previous experiences with floods, which resulted in tens of thousands of ringgit worth of damages for the residents.
The DID sent an officer to inspect the premises and the department then wrote to Ooi, agreeing that the source of the problem was the USM retention pond. But the DID pinned the problem on surrounding drains outside DID jurisdiction (including inside the apartment complex), which it said were not large enough to cope.
USM, for its part, failed to reply. This is not the first time that the overflowing USM retention pond has resulted in major damage to the apartment complex. Similar floods occurred in 1997 and on other occasions including last year. But today’s was among the worst.
When contacted tonight, Sim Tze Tzin, the Bayan Baru MP who visited the area this evening, said three factors contributed to the flooding along Jalan Sungai Dua: the heavy downpour, the breaching of the USM retention pond and a culvert (which apparently comes under JKR jurisdiction) that is not big enough for the drain crossing under Jalan Sungai Dua from USM.
The USM public relations section, meanwhile, sent an sms to Sim, part of which read: “Anyway, USM authority really concern and prihatin terhadap apa jua isu setempat. Namun ia perlu diteliti dgn mdalam krn ia juga melibatkan pelbagai pihak lain yg perlu diselaras, apatah lagi setelah lebih 40 tahun, tdpt juga byk perubahan sekitarnya terutamany pembangunan yg pesat berlaku di dlm dan di luar kampus USM. USM akan terus mencari jln mengatasinya sebaik mungkin. Menuding jari bukan jln terbaik utk menyelesai masalah. TK”
For a start, the buck has to stop somewhere. USM should reply to the residents’ committee and tell them exactly what they are going to do to control the retention pond on its premises.
And something has to be done to the surrounding drains along Jalan Sungai Dua to cope with any excess flow from USM.
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