Residents prefer affected houses to be torn down manually
GEORGE TOWN: A number of residents in Hong Seng Estate, off Jalan Mount Erskine, are worried that work to tear down houses damaged by soil erosion there could affect the structures of the other homes nearby.
One of them, a 73-year-old man who declined to be named, said that demolishing the affected houses should be done manually instead of using an excavator.
“The authorities should also strengthen the nearby structures and the soil before tearing down the units manually.
“This will minimise the impact on the neighbouring units,” he said yesterday.
He said that he used to work in the building sector and was part of a team that tore down houses in Hong Seng Estate in 1992, so he was familiar with the situation and the structure of the houses there.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Yap Soo Huey said she understood the concern of the residents.
“But I was told that the most badly affected house could not be torn down manually because that would be too dangerous for the workers; however, the others could possibly be manually demolished.
“The safety of the workers must not be neglected.
“I will be visiting the site regularly to ensure that the work is being carried out according to safety requirements,” he said, adding that the worst affected unit was torn down yesterday.
Yap said that another house would be torn down while the rest will be monitored to ensure that they were not affected further by erosion.
It was reported that seven houses in the estate were affected – four directly.
Out of the four units, three have cracks on the walls and ground, with the compound in the remain- ing house having caved in.
The other three homes were affected indirectly because they share the same roof with the three units that have the cracked walls.
A consultant engineer, Datuk Lim Kok Khong, had said that the incident was caused by soil erosion due to water under the ground.