Alarm over sunken, eroded Tawau road
TAWAU: Road users at Batu 14, Jalan Apas here were alarmed on the existence of a sunken and eroded road surface yesterday morning.
A driver known as Harman, 27, said he only became aware of the road condition on his way from Batu 10 to the airport at 6.45am.
“At the location, there was a sudden loud thud. When I stopped my car, I saw that the road surface had sunken and begun to erode at certain areas along a 60-metre distance,” he said.
Another road user who lived in Balung, Arfah Bakar, 37, said the sunken surface could have occurred yesterday morning because when she used the road around 11pm on Thursday night to fetch her children from her sister’s house in Bandar Sri Indah, the road was still in good condition.
Meanwhile, the district’s Public Works Department (PWD) assistant engineer, Saiman Ibrahim, when met at the scene said following complaints received at 7.01am, PWD found that the road had become damaged for a stretch of 0.07 kilometres (70 metres).
Following the incident, until noon, vehicles had been temporarily barred from using the road and erosions measuring 0.24 metres deep were also found.
“Maintenance work will be carried out immediately for the safety of road users. We have made a road detour for a 1.9-kilometre stretch,” he said.
He noted the detour would be made open in the opposite route, moving towards Tawau, and road users were reminded to not speed and to be mindful of mutual safety.
“The opposite route will be turned into a two-way road, with one lane to Tawau and the other to Balung,” said Saiman, adding that investigation on the actual cause of the incident was still underway.
A check at the scene showed that the sunken surfaces and erosion were believed to occur every minute and PWD was actively carrying out road closure work for immediate maintenance to avoid future mishaps.
The incident is believed to be caused by an underground pipe that had burst.
Meanwhile, Sri Tanjong assemblyman Chan Foong Hin urged the PWD headquarters to approve an emergency fund for an alternative route and expedite the repair of the sunken and eroded road surface.
Chan thanked the district PWD for speedily opening a 1.9km alternative route to ease traffic flow following a landslide that is believed to have caused the crack.
He said he was told the cause was still under investigation as ground movement was still going on.
He added it was not sure whether the crack was caused by incessant rain or a 3.7 magnitude earthquake that occurred in Borneo at 3.23am yesterday as reported by the Malaysian Meteorological Department.
The epicentre was about 70 km north east of Tarakan, Indonesia.
Chan said as it was the year end it would not be easy to get a budget approved, and therefore urged PWD to approve the emergency fund.