Residents of a residential area in Sungai Siput voiced their concerns following a mud flood which occurred on October 30.
Deputy Chairperson of Surau Taman Yakin Mesra, Sazali Abdul Aziz, 46, said that the flow of rainwater down the nearby hills caused the old trees to fall.
“Due to the fallen trees, there are no longer roots to bind the soil of the hill and mud floods are the result.
“We hope the responsible party such as the local authorities (PBT) or related department will take action immediately, as the soil of the hills has already cracked.
According to him, in June, there was a local leader who was present to inspect the site, however no further action was carried out.
“Late action will pose a risk to the lives of the residents as the recent mud flood incident had passed knee-level.
On Sunday, a day after the mud flood, a kind individual from out of the area had hired a private contractor company to clean up the mud flood which was thought to be the worst flood since the beginning of the year.
Sazali added that if heavy rains happen again, it’s possible for the trees at the hills to also fall together with the mud.
The mud flood which occurred on Saturday was the third one to happen in six months, impacting almost 50 houses in Phase 2 of Taman Yakin Mesra (TYM).
Resident, Abdul Ghaffar Mat Mehat, 36, expressed his concern as his house is situated nearest to the hill.
“Living here since the last 11 months, there have been three incidents of mud floods occurring in April, September and the end of October.
“I am traumatised by the recent incident as my house was also flooded at knee level and I fear that if a worse incident occurs, our house might be buried with us in it.”
Abdul Ghaffar stated that after the September incident, the local authorities were present to clean up the mud overflowing in the drains. However, there was no action from any party to fix the hill slope or build a concrete structure there.
Another resident, Mohd Shawal Mohd Arshad, 33, who has lived there for over a year said that each time it rains heavily, the whole family will be on the alert.
“We residents are worried if the land cracks will worsen as the mud floods have happened several times.
“We urge the responsible party to act immediately before the worst happens to the point of destroying property and endangering the lives of the residents here.”
Inspection by the Ipoh Echo at the affected site found that there were several cracks at the steep hillside. There was also a continuous water flow from the hilltop which accumulated in the nearby drains.
Rosli Mansor
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