Residents jittery after cracks appear on houses
21/04/2008 The Star

SOME houseowners in Taman Kota Permai, Bukit Mertajam, are having sleepless nights after cracks appeared on 39 houses in the area.

Taman Kota Permai special action committee chairman Bernard Cheen said cracks were initially found in seven houses after the construction of a RM73mil sewerage project began in March 2006.

“The problems started when the contractor dug two 10m deep holes to lay an underground sewerage pipe which cuts across the housing area,” he said.

A meeting was held recently at the contractor’s site office to seek a solution to the problem.

It was attended by Local Government, Traffic Management and Environment Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow, Seberang Prai Municipal Council president Farizan Darus, Bukit Mertajam MP Chong Eng, Padang Lalang assemblyman Tan Cheong Heng and representatives from the Sewerage Services Department (JPP) project management unit, state Public Works Department, Ikram, the contractor and affected residents.

The meeting was chaired by Farizan.

JPP representative C. T. Cheng said the project would be completed in October and was now 43% completed.

He said work to install the pipes began on Sept 9 last year. The project is undertaken by Pembinaan Tajri Sdn Bhd.

Cheng said Kumpulan Ikram Sdn Bhd had been appointed to investigate the causes of the cracks within the housing area.

“Ikram will also give recommendations on repair work to the affected houses and measures to prevent further cracks,” he said.

An Ikram representative who declined to be named said so far, they had inspected 45 houses, in-cluding those with cracks, and the houses were structurally sound and safe for occupation.

He said seven houses had 25mm cracks on the brick walls and floor slabs.

“Ikram will monitor the situation closely and come up with a recommendation report in June,” he added.

Chow said Ikram would submit its findings to all relevant parties and measures would be taken based on the findings.

“We hope the contractor will look into the plight of the affected residents, including repairing cracks before concrete and long-term measures are taken,” he added.