By Adrian Lim
KUCHING, Dec 5: The Sarawak Public Works Department (JKR) will construct a pile reinforced concrete slab at one of the pavements of Jalan Setia Raja to solve the ponding issue of the road located within the jurisdiction of Kuching South City Council (MBKS).
MBKS mayor Dato Wee Hong Seng during his Facebook live broadcast to the public said the project is expected to take one year to be completed including the detailed site investigation and detailed engineering design.
“When there is a problem, JKR Sarawak immediately issue a statement to us.
“This is to inform the public and provide an understanding as to what happened to the road,” he said today.
Earlier, Wee said JKR Sarawak had in 2015 carried out the rehabilitation works at the Samajaya roundabout of Jalan Setia Raja leading to Pending to strengthen the pavement and improve the performance under the heavy traffic loading conditions.
However, he added the pavement did not perform to expectations due to the occurrence of excessive water beneath the pavement which caused the pavement to break up repeatedly despite the numerous medication measures to address the issue.
He added there was also no sign of water pipes burst at Jalan Setia Raja after an investigation by the Kuching Water Board (KWB).
Nonetheless, Wee said KWB together with JKR will investigate the source of the water ponding issue and to replace the old piping system at the road.
He disclosed that there were engineers assigned to Jalan Setia Raja recently to investigate what happened to the water ponding issue at the road.
Wee noted the prolonged presence of the water ponding at Jalan Setia Raja will result in weakening the soil foundation beneath the pavement and leading to the loss of pavement under the heavy traffic loading.
He also asserted that some sections of Jalan Setia Raja were in bad condition caused by heavy trucks commuting the road frequently.
Wee said JKR Sarawak has carried out interim measures such as the installation of subsoil drainage in the shoulder of the road to release some of the water trapped beneath the pavement and the shoulder of the road.
On November 29, Pending assemblywoman Violet Yong urged JKR Sarawak to patch up Jalan Setia Raja which was in bad condition.
She noted that there were potholes and some sections of the road were sunken and badly damaged resulting in serious ponding issues.
—DayakDaily
