By LEONARD PHANG
KUCHING: Sixteen hours of heavy rain caused the road near Kampung Semukoi Km77 Jalan Serian/Sri Aman to collapse, forcing motorists to detour and increase travel time by more than half an hour.
The Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) is working on building a diversion at the affected area.
“We could do a faster job but we need the relevant authorities to help us cut off the water pipeline at the roadside before we can complete the diversion,” an SEDC spokesman said.
An engineer at the scene said a large quantity of water had accumulated under the road, causing the collapse at about 6pm on Wednesday.
There were four vehicles on the road at the time.
Grippin Lumpok, 45, an excavator operator, was at home in Kampung Semukoi when he heard the tyres of some of the vehicles exploding.
“They sounded like bombs. I was shocked when I saw the condition of the road.
“The people in the four vehicles were lucky.”
It was understood that the police received a distress call around 7.30pm and sent their men to redirect traffic to the Slabi-Mentung-Krait feeder road, away from the collapsed stretch.
Speaking to reporters at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here yesterday, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang advised motorists using Jalan Serian-Sri Aman against ferrying heavy loads.
He said they should drive carefully through the narrower Slabi-Mentung-Krait feeder road.
He added that they were working to repair the collapsed road quickly.
(Source: http://www.starproperty.my/PropertyScene/PropertyNews/17898/0/0, dd 30-December, 2011.)
No comments:
Post a Comment