Residents fear effects of rock-blasting on condo

The Star 17/4/2004 By K. ANURADHA

RESIDENTS of Ixora Apartments in Cheras have lost their sense of security. 

Cracks have started appearing in and outside their homes, giving some of them fears of a Highland Towers-like catastrophe. 

Resident Goh Pak Choo said cracks had started appearing on their apartment walls as well as at their parking lots. 

Chong putting his hand into the crack to show its depth.

“In the past two months, certain sections of the parking lot have sunk by an inch. A big sinkhole has also appeared at the back of the apartment,” he said. 

Resident Wong Fook Yee said the sinkhole kept reappearing although it had been filled up five times since it first appeared. 

They said the cracks and holes started appearing when a project across the road from the apartments started construction work. 

“There is a lot of rock-blasting and we feel the vibrations in our homes,” said another resident, Steven Chong. 

A check at the site showed that work was progressing on the SMART tunnel flood management project.  

The residents are fearful that the buildings might collapse or just crumble in the months to come, since the cracks are worsening by the day. 

They urge the authorities to look at the project again, since the building of a tunnel would mean more blasting being carried out, causing further damage to the apartments. 

“The developer's representatives once came to look at our apartments. They probably thought rock-blasting would not affect our place here, but it does now,” said resident Khairi Elvin Abdullah. 

He said residents did not know the impact of the project on the structure of their apartments and were now having sleepless nights because of it. 

A statement from Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel Project (SMART) said its project team met the residents of Ixora Apartments on Wednesday. 

The team found cavities underneath the road next to the apartment buildings and would treat the cavities to prevent further sinkholes. 

The statement said once treatment was completed, there would be no further threat to the building structure. 

SMART contended that the current problems faced by Ixora Apartment residents was due to a combination of poor soil conditions and pre-existing cavities under the surface. 

The statement assured Ixora residents that its project would not have adverse effect on their buildings and SMART pledged to give the residents written assurance that the apartments were safe for occupancy. 

It added that the project team had been closely monitoring the buildings and keeping in touch with the management and residents over the matter in the past three months.