KUALA LUMPUR, July 27 – The Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will reconsider the request for bigger quarters from employees who vacated the Jalan San Peng’s quarters when part of a road nearby collapsed on Saturday.
Its director-general, Datuk Salleh Yusup said the DBKL would meet 10 of the affected families, who asked to be shifted to bigger units.
“Maybe we need to find them a better place to stay,” he told Bernama after visiting the collapse site today.
The employees, who are now sheltered at a hotel off Jalan Sungai Besi here, had been offered to move to two-room units in the Seri Selangor People’s Housing Scheme.
Some of the affected families had already shifted to the housing scheme but 10 DBKL employees refused to budge, arguing that the quarters were too small for their families.
DBKL Workers Union secretary A. Munian, who is one of the affected employees, said they had asked DBKL to allocate three-room units in the people’s housing scheme for them.
Speaking to Bernama after meeting DBKL representatives at the hotel, DBKL clerk M. Devadas, 46, said DBKL should look after their well-being and welfare as they had stayed in the affected quarters for over 20 years.
Housewife Azizah Zakaria, 43, whose husband was an ex-employee of DBKL, said each family was given merely RM25 a day during their stay at the hotel and it was hardly enough for her family.
About 100 occupants of 22 Public Works Department and DBKL quarters were evacuated after part of a road which runs alongside a construction site collapsed on Saturday.
Meanwhile, Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) has denied that the road collapse was due to water main leak or burst as it had not receive any complaints in the area since July 8.
“The 150ml pipes in the area is made of high quality and highly durable mild steel and they do not burst easily. Moreover, they are still new,” it said in a statement.
Syabas said it believed the collapse was due to vibration from a construction site nearby that caused the soil structure to loosen.
It said, however, Syabas had fixed end cap and by-pass on the pipes and the work was completed at 4am yesterday.
“Four static tankers were placed in the area to help residents get their water needs,” it said, adding that, contractors should consult Syabas before starting work to ensure that they do not damage water mains. – Bernama
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