Apartment folk blame cracks on SMART project
Malay Mail 16/12/2004

KUALA LUMPUR: Residents of Iris Apartments in Taman Desa, Seputeh, are having sleepless nights worrying about their safety following the appearance of cracks on the walls of their apartment blocks.

Resident Dr S.S Ng, 56, claimed the cracks could have been caused by piling works near the residential scheme which is part of a water diversion project in the area.

The project, Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART), is being carried out by a private company since November 2002.

The SMART project is to solve the flood problems in the city during heavy downpour and is expected to be completed at the end of 2006.

"I notice that the cracks began to appear all over the apartment blocks since the project started," Dr Ng, a veterinarian who has been living there for the past seven years.

"There are cracks everywhere on the walls of all six blocks here. Under such conditions, I am certainly living in fear," he said.

He said even though the developer had set up a team to monitor the problem and had stopped the piling works, the buildings continued to deteriorate.

Ng claimed that new cracks would appear almost everyday.

"I bought the apartment to make it my permanent residence, and I still want to remain here. I only hope that something could be done to remedy the situation."

In The Malay Mail visit to the area yesterday, we found huge cracks in various places including the staircase, walls, windows, doors and even on several parts of the tarmac of the parking lot.

Some of the cracks on the car park also developed into potholes and that had made the apartment area quite an eye-sore.

Certain cracks on the walls had also loosened the bricks and holes are exposed all over the place.

The water tank, located near the apartment's parking lot, is slightly tilted and looks precarious.

Comments from the project's concessionaire could not be obtained yesterday.