GEORGE TOWN: Repair work on the broken Indah Water Konsortium (IWK) pipe, which caused a sinkhole on Lebuh Bukit Kecil 3, near Pantai Jerejak, Bayan Lepas here yesterday, is expected to take seven days.
Penang Infrastructure, Transport and Digital Committee chairman Zairil Khir Johari said IWK entered the incident site and started carrying out emergency work at 11.30 pm yesterday.
He said the Barat Daya district Public Works Department (JKR) received a report at 8 am yesterday about an incident that caused a sinkhole measuring 10 metres, with a depth of three metres.
“An initialJ KR investigation found that there was still active soil erosion and water overflow coming out through the hole, and action was taken by implementing a Traffic Management Plan (TMP) and closing the area,” he said when contacted by Bernama today.
“The IWK survey conducted through camera recordings inside the drainage pipe found that there was a break in the pipe, and this morning they were on-site to study mitigation methods, with repair work expected to be completed within seven days.”
Zairil said IWK is carrying out monitoring work through the system to survey the condition of the pipes in the area of the incident.
Meanwhile, IWK in a statement said its team is still investigating the root cause of the incident, which may be due to heavy rainfall and movement to the underground pipes.
IWK said immediate action was taken including mobilising repair teams and coordinating with the Public Works Department (JKR) and Zairil’s office to implement a road closure, establishing safety barricades and redirecting traffic for public safety.
“As of last night, IWK’s contractor had started on the repair works. During this time, road users are advised to use alternative routes as access to Taman Sri Nibong, through Krystal Point, will be temporarily closed,” said the statement.
IWK remains committed to ensuring the continued safe and efficient operation of the sewerage system in the area, working to safeguard public health and the environment.
Meanwhile, Pantai Jerejak assemblyman Fahmi Zainol hopes that IWK will conduct inspections and complete several sewage pipe projects in the Pantai Jerejak area, as there are three to four locations that have been pending for almost five years.
“There are several IWK projects in the Pantai Jerejak constituency that are still not completed, for instance, in front of the Giant supermarket and fronting the Bayan Baru roundabout, so I feel IWK seriously needs to look into its sewage pipe system because some of them might be old and could cause leaks in those areas.
“So far, there is only one location (sinkhole) that has been found to have that problem, and it (IWK) has examined several areas, but there are no signs indicating that such an incident will recur again,“ he said.
Yesterday, several pictures of a school bus getting its tyre stuck in the sinkhole went viral on social media, but no injuries were reported.
