The road surface repair works at Laluan Persekutuan FT239 Jalan Ampang-Jelapang had to be postponed following the discovery of a sinkhole at the area.
Executive Councillor for Infrastructure, Energy, Water and Public Transportation, Datuk Mohd Zolkafly Harun stated that his party realised that the postponement has caused extraordinary congestion, especially during peak hours and weekends.
He added that road users have also been impacted by the closure of the emergency lane and left lane of the road for almost two months.
“On October 19, the concession found a sinkhole of 10 metres long and 1.5 metres wide on the road shoulder of Seksyen 4.73.
“Thus, the works have to be postponed for further inspection, to prevent the situation from becoming worse,” he explained yesterday.
Mohd Zolkafly said so when asked to comment on the complaints of road users especially on social media, who are constantly faced with terrible traffic congestion.
He said that the soil erosion is believed to be caused by seepage of water from the leaking roadside drain.
“The slope engineering unit of the Public Works Department (JKR) Malaysia has conducted an inspection on the site and found sewer leakage next to the retaining wall.
“It caused the pooling of water underneath the area,” he stated.
He mentioned that among the preliminary actions taken at the location are the placing of plywood and canvas on the surface of the sinkhole and the closing of one lane to avoid accidents.
According to him, JKR via a federal concession will carry out repair works beginning next week.
“The works will begin next week, as the matter has been ongoing for almost two months. This is also following the urgent needs of road users.
“It is a permanent repair and RM 700,000 from the emergency allocation of the Ministry of Public Works has been allocated for the road repair works,” he said.
Previously, the complaints of road users who have to face terrible congestion when passing the route in addition to the closure of the road for months, went viral on social media.
Rosli Mansor
=============================
Get your local news fast. Download the Ipoh Echo App on your mobile. Available on both Google Playstore and Apple Appstore.
