Concern over safety at Kapit Terminal
KAPIT: Commuters are concerned about the potential risk posed by the gap of about five feet that separates express boats from the wharf at Kapit Terminal, which reopens after the closure in mid-September to allow for maintenance and upgrading works on the wharf fender.
Moreover, the big gap is causing inconvenience to passengers.
In order to reach or disembark from the boat, boat operators used to place a wooden plank across the gap as a walkway. Presently, the newly-installed ‘steel gangway’ acts a bridge across the gap.
However, the ‘steel gangway’ measuring three feet by five feet leaves much room for improvement because a careful look would fi nd that both ends are placed just two to three inches on the boat and the wharf. This raises the question of safety because waves created by passing boats would cause them to vibrate violently.
Besides that, the design of the wharf fender leaves much to be desired as the top part is uncovered, and this has raised concern of both the boat operators and passengers.
One of the suggestions is to use cement to reinforce the top part of the fender; and steel or cast iron to be used as steps on the staircase for easy movement of passengers.
On Dec 14, Bukit Goram assemblyman Jefferson Jamit Unyat inspected the terminal and came up with the afore-mentioned suggestions for the Public Works Department to look into.