KOTA KINABALU: It may take up to two weeks to repair the Bantayan Inanam-Minintod Penampang road, Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Joseph Pairin Kitingan said.
Pairin, who was met at the site of the damaged road yesterday, said that repair work WAs slow because of the terrain in the affected area.
“As you can see, the other side (Inanam) of the gap is quite narrow and so is the place where we are excavating. It may take two weeks for the road to be passable,” Pairin, who is also Infrastructure Development Minister, said.
“We hope the rakyat will understand the situation and bear with us. We know there are many quarters who want the government to do more and they are always reminding us of that. We do not reject criticisms and their sarcasm in situations like this. Therefore, we will work hard together with the relevant quarters,” he said.
Pairin added it was disheartening to hear about landslides and damages to roads as a result of the incessant heavy rain and flood last week.
“Of course, we want our lines of communications like the roads to be good and road users to have a smooth journey to and from their destinations. This is why we must give immediate attention to incidents like the roads being damaged so that the communication is not cut off,” he stressed.
Pairin said that he was constantly monitoring the situation and expressed his appreciation to the state Public Works Department (PWD) and its concessionaires for being on the alert in situations like the heavy rainfall last week.
“There are some areas where they cannot carry out immediate repairs because of the terrain like in Km 45 of Tambunan road. There is a huge boulder there that needs to be removed and that will take time,” he disclosed.
Pairin also touched on incessant rumors that water was ‘released’ from the Babagon Dam and as a result contributed to the flooding in Penampang on October 7.
“I want to touch on Babagon Dam because some quarters are saying we purposely released the water… that we opened the gates to the dam and that had contributed to the flood. This was also being said during the flood in Penampang last year.
I want to remind all that Babagon dam, and this has been explained by the state Water Department, does not have a water release gate. We only have a spillway for the excess water to flow out from when the dam is full.
“The design is to allow the excess water to flow out on its own. So during rainy season the water will flow into the spill way,” he said.
To a suggestion that more drains be built or existing ones widen in flood-prone areas, Pairin said that they were now waiting for the state Drainage and Irrigation Department’s report on this.
He also took to task those who criticized the government and claimed that it has failed to resolve the traffic congestion in the state capital.
“The government has never neglected any attention to the traffic woes in the state capital. In fact we are now waiting for the allocation from the government to construct no less than five flyovers in the state capital.
“We will be getting the allocation for two flyovers, from Jalan Lintas to Jalan Kolam and in Mile 5 Jalan Tuaran by the end of this year,” he said, adding that the designs for these two flyovers are ready.