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Residents put
up with foul stench for nine months
06/04/2009 NST K. Harinderan
— Selangor state executive councillor Teresa Kok Suh Sim
KUALA LUMPUR: Some 8,000 residents in Puchong have had to put up with the
stench from a sewage pond for the last nine months after the developer wound
up its business.
The developer of the Taman Puchong Intan housing scheme had encountered financial
difficulties and was placed under the management of liquidators.
"As a result, none of the authorities are taking the responsibility of repairing
the faulty main pump at the sewage pond located at Phase Three of the housing
scheme.
"The authorities claimed that the developer had not formally handed over the
pond to Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK)," said Selangor state executive
councillor Teresa Kok Suh Sim during a visit to the scheme recently.
She said residents had approached her as a last resort to find a solution
for the problem.
"After hearing about their plight, Puchong member of parliament Gobind Singh
Deo and I raised RM60,000 from state allocations and appointed a contractor
to repair the pump as a temporary measure. The repair work started on March
28."
Kok said the authorities should maintain the pond after repairs were done.
Taman Puchong Intan Residents Association chairman Chik Chum said the problem
began nine months ago when the main pump at the sewage pond broke down.
Complaints were lodged with IWK and the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ)
but the problem was not resolved.
Residents are worried that the rotting waste matter in the pond and the stench
will cause health problems.
Chik said the developer had also failed to settle RM50,000 owed to Tenaga
Nasional Bhd. As a result, power to the sewage plant was cut earlier this
year.
Kok said that, at a meeting with MPSJ officials, they had stated that the
total repair cost for the sewage plant was around RM500,000.
She said a meeting would be held soon with IWK, the liquidators and MPSJ.
"We hope IWK will intervene and maintain the sewage pond immediately based
on humanitarian grounds."
IWK head of communications Amin Lin Abdullah said the company was only responsible
for public sewage plants.
"The developer failed to meet the requirements and did not maintain the plant.
"The sewage pond was to be a fully-mechanised plant equipped with pumps, aerators
and a central control panel which is currently not working."
IWK found that, in addition to these problems, the underground sewage pipes
in the housing scheme also needed to be replaced.
"The matter is now in the hands of the National Water Services Commission.
IWK was not responsible for the problems at the scheme."
The 15-year-old housing scheme has over 1,500 houses and 300 units of medium-cost
flats which are scheduled to be completed this year.
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