WHAT will it take for the Ipoh City Council to act? Is it when the situation has reached a point of no return or worse still, when lives are lost?”
These are the questions being asked by residents of Laluan Meru Indah 5A in Gerbang Meru Indah who continue to live in fear after part of the road caved in about six months ago.
On May 30, an area the size of 20m by 30m, had collapsed following an evening downpour.
The landslide occurred just 4m away from the gate of the corner house where 74-year-old Zaleha Abdullah and her family live.
“To date, nothing is being done to rectify the situation, which is becoming worse by the day.
“All the council ever does is take measurements and photographs but it doesn’t address the urgent problem that is at hand,” said the elderly woman.
A check by The Star revealed that the eroded edges were a mere 0.5m from the road curb in front of Zaleha’s house.
All along the road, cracks and signs of depression were also visible.
“Each time we ask, the council gives the excuse that there are no funds available.
“We are living in fear, more so whenever it rains.
“I am also worried that one of my grandchildren may just venture outside and fall off the edge into the river below,” said Zaleha, who lives with eight grandchildren.
Further down the road, Dr Wong Sher Yee and her husband, Dr Kaw Han Chung, both 32, had a rude shock when part of the retention wall and fencing in front of their corner house collapsed last Friday.
Dr Wong said she had since tried but to no avail to get officers from the council to assess the damage.
“There is a big hole under the road and a stream has formed underneath.
“I spoke to a few officers whom we met during the first collapse but they have refused to even come to see what has happened in front of my house,” she added.
Dr Wong claimed that the council did not have a sense of urgency in dealing with the matter.
“According to the officers, their boss says this recent collapse is not urgent compared to the other end of the road.
“But my question is that, shouldn’t the council be taking preventive measures to ensure the entire stretch of road does not collapse?” she asked.
Another resident, contractor Soong Tam Boo, 67, said should the road in front of Dr Wong’s house collapse, residents living on Laluan Meru Indah 5A would not be able to access their houses.
“Then all of us will have to move away.
“Looking at the cracks and depression on the road, it is quite obvious there are cavities underneath.
“It is just a matter of time before a bigger stretch of the road collapses,” he said.
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