Resident anxious as sinkholes add to landslide fear
BALIK PULAU: The fear of landslides went up a notch for a man living in Sungai Ara when he woke up to find three sinkholes on the road outside his new house.
“The largest one was about 2m wide and 1m deep, with water flowing in them,” said Tingkat Kelicap resident Dennis Kumar, 44.
His home is in the foothills near Bayan Lepas in the south-eastern side of Penang island and there are several tall apartment and condominium towers in the neighbourhood.
Dennis said heavy mixer trucks had been using the road to deliver cement for construction of four blocks of 41- and 42-storey apartment towers nearby and the load combined with the almost daily rain spells last week might have weakened the ground.
“I moved in three months ago and it was a beautiful neighbourhood on top of a small hill.
“Today, I walked out of my house and was greeted by three sinkholes. Twenty to 30 mixer trucks pass by every day and when they do, my house shakes like there is an earthquake. Their screeching brakes while going down the slope are also loud.
“We knew it was a problem wait- ing to happen, and now water supply has been disrupted because of damaged underground pipes,” he said on Sunday.
Meanwhile, Bayan Lepas assemblyman Azrul Mahathir Aziz said the sinkholes were caused by a broken water pipe.
“The Public Works Department will immediately install a warning sign and workers have been dispatched to fix the pipe and patch up the road,” he said.