Sinkhole scare for residents of Ikan Emas

The Malay Mail 7/3/2006

KUALA LUMPUR, March 7 "It was so bizarre!" Chin Fon, a Seri Pulau Pinang longhouse resident in Cheras, was shocked to see the road he was standing on cave in last Sunday morning.

Chin was seeing his brother-in-law off around 8am by the roadside of Jalan Ikan Emas when they realised that one of the car’s tyres was stuck in a small hole.

"He started the engine, but the car would not budge. We managed to get the car out but the hole got bigger and bigger.

"It turned into a huge sinkhole quickly and rock and soil fell into it."

The sinkhole, about two metres deep and filled with water, attracted the whole neighbourhood.

A 60-year-old resident, identified only as Raju, said: "When I woke up, I was shocked to discover the big hole right in front of my house.

"I have been staying here for 18 years and have never experienced something like this."

Chia Jet Tong, who has lived in the area for more than 20 years, said the cave-in could be due to the downpour the night before.

"It was only the next morning that residents realised what had happened. Fortunately, no one was injured," said Chia who is MCA Bandar Tun Razak executive advisor, adding that the area used to be a farm.

The emergency unit of the City Hall’s housing management department immediately cordoned off a three-metre radius of the sinkhole for investigations.

Chiew Lian Keng, private secretary to Deputy Home Minister Datuk Tan Chai Ho, was at the scene.

Chiew, who is also MCA Federal Territory public services and complaint department director, said City Hall will co-operate with the Geological Survey Department to identify the cause of the cave-in and to carry out repair work.