JKR to conduct study first before repair works on link road in Serian can begin

KUCHING: The Public Works Department ( JKR) of Serian Division is currently undertaking a ground study on a stretch of the link road connecting Dunuk and Plaman Rayang affected by landslide on Sunday morning.

According to Assistant Minister for Public Utilities ( Water Supply) Datuk Roland Sagah, the ground study must be carried out first before the department could decide on ways to repair that stretch of the road.

“At the moment, JKR is doing a ground study on the soil structure and whether a diversion route or a bailey bridge is needed will be based on the finding of the study,” Sagah said when contacted yesterday.

He added that the landslide could be partly due to the surrounding vegetation that had been cleared.

In the incident early Sunday, a 50m stretch of the road in upper Padawan was affected by landslide due to heavy rain the past few days, which affected several villages such as Senah Rayang, Rudan, Stabut, Plaman Dunuk, Bukit Nanas and Semeru.

Following the incident, which Tebedu District Officer Raymong Achen described as quite serious because of the damaged underground culverts, JKR Serian and CMS took prompt action to build a bailey bridge as a temporary measure.

Sagah, who is also Tarat assemblyman, said the bailey bridge had been completed and ready for use.

He said the water pipes damaged by the landslide were those going to the affected villages, and not the main pipe line.