Latest news with #SidneySkinner
Daily Express
21 hours ago
- General
- Daily Express
Luyang night mart operator risks RM500 fine
Published on: Friday, June 06, 2025 Published on: Fri, Jun 06, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: Licencing staff (left) in the midst of serving the notice to the night market operator's representative and City Hall personnel (right) walked the grounds, briefing the hawkers on the agency's requirements. THE operator of a Luyang night market, off Jalan Wisma Pertanian, risks being compounded as much as RM500, if he/she fails to comply with City Hall's requirements regarding the noise and garbage generated by the activities on the grounds. A spokesman for the agency's Licencing Department said such action could be taken under City Hall's Hawkers By-laws 1966. Advertisement He said the operator was given an official warning to this affect recently. 'The individual was asked to make sure that loud music was not played on the grounds,' he said. 'This includes hosting buskers or live bands.' He said the onus was on the operator to ensure that the night market grounds was kept clean before and after the stalls opened for the day. 'The hawkers are only permitted to run their stalls from 5pm to 12am.' The operator was instructed to provide garbage disposal facilities for the vendors to get rid of their waste, according to him. He said he/she was asked to provide bins for the hawkers and to ensure that they did not throw their food waste into any of the drains nearby. 'In the worst case scenario, the individual can have his/ her licence revoked if we find that our conditions have been contravened.' This follows feedback about the nuisance created by loud music coming from the night market. The Luyang homeowner, who spoke out about this inconvenience, said the noise could be heard from as early as 6.10pm in one instance and 6.30pm on another. She alerted to City Hall about these incidents, providing the agency with recordings of the nuisance in both cases. The resident even put down her displeasure in writing to the authority. The spokesman said the night market was inspected on two separate occasions over a span of two weeks. The first check was carried out on the same day that the authority received the resident's letter, while the most recent one was made shortly after it was contacted by Hotline. He said Licencing staff went to the grounds around 5.30pm during the former inspection and around 7pm during the latter. 'They spent between one and a half to two hours there in each case,' he said. 'No buskers or bands were found to be performing during either inspection. On top of this, no loud music could be heard on the grounds.' 'Our personnel met with each of the hawkers who were present and personally briefed them on City Hall's requirements.' A representative for the night market operator participated in both checks, according to him. 'He/she was verbally asked to ensure that his/her hawkers abided by our conditions during the initial visit. A 'Notis Amaran (warning notice)' was served to the individual during the next one.' The spokesman said Licencing staff would be keeping an eye on the night market from time to time. 'If the nuisance persists after this, then we will consider striking out the operator's licence.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
3 days ago
- Business
- Daily Express
Need to upgrade Kepayan drainage
Published on: Wednesday, June 04, 2025 Published on: Wed, Jun 04, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: An excavator was deployed to help in efforts to clear this large drain near Taman Sepanggar Phase 2. THE government concessionaire has cleared the roadside drains in a Kepayan neighbourhood, but pointed out that such maintenance will only minimally prevent water from stagnating inside, unless the gradient for these structures is restored. To this end, the company hopes that City Hall will consider upgrading the drains along Lorong Rampai as such structural improvement falls outside the management's scope of work. The Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), meanwhile, is in the process of cleaning a large drain which runs along one side of Lorong Buah Mempelam 3C in Manggatal. Action to attend to these drains was prompted by feedback that they were clogged with water vegetation. The homeowners in Taman Selesa and Taman Sepanggar Phase 2, who spoke out about this, feared the possibility of flash floods occurring in their respective areas. They provided Hotline with the pertinent details regarding these drainage irregularities which were forwarded to the relevant agencies. A spokeswoman for City Hall's Landscaping Department said the concessionaire's workers removed the weeds which had sprung up in the Kepayan drains a few days before the Harvest Festival public holidays last week. 'We were made to understand that a lot of settlement has taken place in the area since the housing drains on either side of Lorong Rampai were first built many years ago,' she said. 'This settlement has apparently affected the movement of runoff channelled through these structures. 'Because of this, ponding occurs in these drains and water vegetation tends to thrive inside.' Per the company's records, the roadside drains, off Lorong Rampai, were last cleaned on April 16, according to her. She said one of the Department's staff checked on the condition of the drains near the complainant's premises in the second week of May. 'He noticed that a concrete driveway was fashioned over a section of the drains. 'The rate-payer who did this may have inadvertently impeded the flow of the water inside. 'We suspect that bits of the cement mortar could have fallen into the drains, if not the culvert, and hardened at the base, when the driveway was built.' The spokeswoman said the agency's Engineering Department would be apprised of the observations regarding the driveway in question, as well as the potential settlement which was likely to have taken place in Taman Selesa. 'Our Engineering colleagues will have to determine how best to improve the drainage in the housing area. 'They will have to decide whether it warrants upgrading the roadside drains here.' In the case of Taman Sepanggar Phase 2, the DID has gradually been attending to the large drain, near one part of the residential property, over the past two months. A DID spokeswoman said a contractor had been de-silting the structure in stages since April. 'He was asked to pay particular attention to clearing this vegetation from the outlets for the drain,' she said. 'The individual was also tasked with clearing the overgrown grass on the reserve land on either side.' She said an excavator had been deployed to facilitate this effort. When asked how often the structure was cleaned, the spokeswoman said there was no fixed schedule for this maintenance. 'We try to have our drains outside the city-limits cleaned annually. 'If the Department's budget permits, this may be performed once more in that same year.' She said the Department's drains in the State Capital were generally attended to between three to four times annually. The spokeswoman said the Department was aware of the flood woes in this part of Manggatal. 'We are in the midst of identifying those flood-prone areas around the town.' She said the agency hoped to come up with possible solutions to the flash floods which had hit those living and working there. 'A study on the drainage around the town will have to be conducted to facilitate this effort." * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
29-05-2025
- Automotive
- Daily Express
DBKK stepping up efforts on streetlight woes
Published on: Thursday, May 29, 2025 Published on: Thu, May 29, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: Repairs were made to the faulty fixtures along several housing roads around Bandar Sierra. City Hall will step up efforts to check on the public lighting on several roads between Kolombong and Manggatal to ensure that that the common areas along these stretches are properly illuminated at night. This follows feedback from three road-users about the poor night-time driving experience on Jalan Kilang, Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran and housing roads in Bandar Sierra. They provided Hotline with the pertinent details, related to their separate concerns, which were forwarded to the agency. A spokesman for the City Hall's Engineering Department said its electrical contractor was alerted to the streetlight woes along the affected roads. He said two inspections were made of Jalan Kilang over the span of two weeks recently. 'A faulty contactor in one the control panels was changed during the first check,' he said. Advertisement He explained that a 'contactor' was a type of switch for repeatedly opening and closing an electric circuit. 'When the technicians returned about 14 days later, they replaced two 150watt lanterns, two 250watt lanterns, five 250watt ballasts, six line taps and a 120metre length of a 16milimetre cable.' He said a skymaster was deployed to facilitate these repairs. A 'ballast' regulated the electrical current to the lanterns and provided sufficient voltage to start the lanterns, according to him. Given as how the lights had twice been rendered inoperative, he said, the contractor kept the road under surveillance for a period afterwards, before confirming that everything was in order. He said Jalan Kilang covered a distance of some 1.83kilometres from the roundabout on Jalan Mangga and another on Jalan Lintas Khidmat. 'Where the divider at Mile 6½ Jalan Tuaran was involved, the contractor and his team attended to a faulty contactor and Miniature Circuit Breaker (MCB) in the control panel for the lights.' 'We were made to understand that the U-turn on the main road in the Seri Warisan area had been unlit for some time.' He elaborated that a MCB prevented electrical hazards by detecting and interrupting abnormal currents and short circuits. 'A follow-up check was made three weeks later, during which time the lights were found to be out of order. 'The contractor replaced two 250watt lanterns, two 250watt ballasts and four line taps in this instance.' He said the individual kept tabs on the public lighting in this part of Jalan Tuaran on and off over the coming weeks to ensure that the section of the road near the U-turn was properly illuminated at night. On top of this, the spokesman said four service lines, three ballasts, four 'ignitors' and four lanterns were replaced in the residential area at Bandar Sierra. 'An 'ignitor' functions as a starter to increase the initial voltage to make the lanterns glow.' He said the related fixtures were found to be malfunctioning along Lorong Sierra 1/ 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1A, Lorong Sierra 1B and Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B. 'All the lights on Lorong Sierra 1/ 1B, which extends for about 167metres, were found to have broken down.' He said the contractor did a day-time test, at the time, to ensure that these amenities were coming on as they should. 'He also went back after dark to determine if the road was adequately lit.' When asked how often maintenance was carried out on those streetlights under City Hall's jurisdiction, the spokesman said there was no fixed-schedule for this work. 'These amenities are attended to as and when it becomes necessary to do so.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
28-05-2025
- General
- Daily Express
Telipok water woes due to pipe bursts
Published on: Wednesday, May 28, 2025 Published on: Wed, May 28, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: A technician welds a 'bend joint' along the leaking MSCL distribution main in Taman Puterajaya. A series of pipe bursts is to blame for the water woes which Telipok consumers, off Mile 13 Jalan Tuaran, have been experiencing for some time. The fluctuating levels at the reservoir overlooking Donggongon, on the other hand, has given rise to the erratic supply which their counterparts, living off Jalan Minintod-Bantayan in Penampang, have been receiving for over a month In view of this, the Water Department will be monitoring the supply to Taman Puterajaya and Country Heights Apartments, to try and minimise any unnecessary disruptions from occurring at both properties over the coming Harvest Festival- Agung's Birthday public holidays. A spokesman for the agency said one of its contractors was in the midst of repairing a section of a Mid-Steel-Cement-Lined (MSCL) pipe in Taman Puterajaya which sprung a leak on Tuesday. 'The emergency work on the distribution main, with a diameter of 200 millimetres, got underway from 9.30am yesterday,' he said. 'Consumers in the vicinity were notified a half an hour earlier to use what reserves they had in their storage tanks sparingly.' Advertisement This was the third such notice which the Department had issued to the public about a burst in this part of Telipok since the beginning of month. The earlier notices were issued on May 3 and May 25, according to the spokesman. 'Different parts of the same MSCL pipe which spans some 800 metres on Lorong Puterajaya 2 have become damaged in each instance. 'This has happened due to wear and tear as the main was first installed beneath the verge here years ago. 'Contrary to what some quarters may think, it is not a case of shoddy workmanship on the part of our technicians as the leaks did not happen in the same section of the supply-line.' Aside from those in the neighbourhood, the spokesman said, the repairs also affected consumers at the Apartments and Shophouses in Puterajaya area. 'Our tankers have been going around the affected properties from time to time to deliver treated water to these individuals.' Where Country Heights was concerned, the spokesman said the supply to the property had been affected by falling levels the agency's R6B reservoir. 'The diminishing volume at the Donggongon reservoir was only a temporary setback which happened for a few days last week and over the weekend,' he said. 'We managed to raise the levels somewhat this week to improve the supply to the Apartments.' A spokesman for the company, which manages Country Heights, said the property had periodically lost its main incoming supply between 10pm and 6am since April. 'Even when the supply did not disappear, the pressure was very low,' he said. 'It was only about five to 10 per cent of what it should be.' 'Owing to this, there was not enough water in our ground tanks for us to give our tenants a supply the following morning.' He said the firm generally released water for a few hours twice a day – once in the morning and then at night. 'The management has had to control the flow of water from our elevated and ground tanks to the 6,000 occupants on the property. If the supply is not controlled, then those living on the upper floors would have no chance of getting any water at all.' The spokesman said this task had become exceedingly difficult since April 17, when there had intermittently been 'zero' input to the Apartments' tanks at night. He said multiple calls had been made to the Department's Careline since then about the water woes at Country Heights. 'On May 13, we wrote to the agency about this problem. We are still waiting to receive an official response to our correspondence.' The Department spokesman said one of its technicians went to Country Heights, shortly after being contacted by the media last week. 'He found that water was reaching the bulk-meter but the pressure of the supply was low,' he said. 'A security guard for the Apartments even climbed up to a balancing tank for the property and noted that that the supply was barely entering the receptacle.' The spokesman said the agency's staff had been keeping an eye on the property since then. 'If things take a turn for the worse, we will consider sending a tanker to replenish the contents of the ground tank for the property.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
Daily Express
22-05-2025
- General
- Daily Express
Kota Kinabalu operators fined for food violations
Published on: Thursday, May 22, 2025 Published on: Thu, May 22, 2025 By: Sidney Skinner Text Size: City Hall personnel and their SSD peers worked together to carry out the operation on Monday. City Hall compounded eight food operators for contravening its Food and Eating Premises By-Laws 1966, during a check of eateries in the State Capital earlier this week. A spokeswoman for the agency's Environmental Health Department (EHD) said a penalty of up to RM500 could be imposed in such circumstances. 'Three shop-owners had not installed grease-traps according to our specifications, particularly when it came to the T-joint which is supposed to be part of the set-up,' she said. 'Two had failed to maintain this equipment, while another two were found to be releasing the soiled water from their kitchens into the common drain outside.' The last was taken to task for running his/ her business without a valid licence, according to her. These violations came to light during a Unified Grease-Trap Operation between City Hall and the Sewage Services Department (SSD) on Monday. Advertisement Five SSD personnel were involved in the two and a half hour exercise which was organised by the former agency to deal with the sewage woes caused by the indiscriminate disposal of fats, oils and grease (FOG) at commercial outlets in one part of Kota Kinabalu. They were joined by 13 City Hall staff who were drawn from its Environmental Health and Engineering Departments. The joint SSD-City Hall team inspected nine outlets on Jalan Gaya and Jalan Haji Saman. The EHD spokeswoman stressed that the oily discharge entering grease-traps should be removed daily. 'Don't hold off cleaning the traps only till it becomes necessary to do so.' She said it was imperative that the unwanted cooking oil from commercial kitchens was dealt with responsibly. 'Proprietors should also avoid modifying the traps and adhere to our approved specifications. A 'T-joint' should also be put in place before the outlet from these devices and they should not be connected to the drainage servicing the shops.' A SSD spokeswoman said it hoped to make business-owners in the City aware of the proper method to get rid of the FOG from their activities. She admitted that the agency had been facing an uphill task mitigating the nuisance created by a manhole in a back-lane on Jalan Gaya which had been overflowing, on and off, since November. A preliminary inspection was made of Lorong Bank shortly after this problem came to light, with a follow-up check carried out in March, according to her. 'Our staff opened the inspection chamber (IC) for the problematic manhole and others along the road. They found the effluent past the brim,' she said. 'They set about 'sewer-rodding' the length of the pipes underneath the trouble-spots. Bits of congealed FOG were among the foreign objects strained from the sewage. 'We suspect that some parties may be flushing used cooking oil into the sewer-line.' She said one of the Department's tankers was subsequently deployed to the back-lane to pump out the effluent from the IC in a bid to offer the public in this part of the State Capital some temporary relief. 'A hairline crack was found in one of pipes during this de-sludging effort. This damage likely allowed the run off from the drains in the vicinity to enter the sewers. 'This may be a factor in why the manhole has been overflowing for as long as it has.' The spokeswoman said the SSD planned to the replace the sewer-pipes and install new ICs on the affected section of Lorong Bank. 'We are trying to obtain a wayleave from City Hall as this section of the road, including the pavement nearby, will have to be excavated in order to carry out this improvement,' she said. 'Barring any unforeseen circumstances, it should take at most three months to finish this upgrading effort.' * Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel and Telegram for breaking news alerts and key updates! * Do you have access to the Daily Express e-paper and online exclusive news? Check out subscription plans available. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express's Telegram channel. Daily Express Malaysia
