WASTED: The flood prone junction near Jalan Ibu Kota
Despite spending RM32 million to upgrade a 3.2km stretch of Jalan Genting Klang in Setapak, shoddy work and bad design has resulted in flooding in the area whenever there is a heavy downpour.
Wangsa Maju MP Wee Choo Keong said the Jalan Genting Klang-Jalan Ibu Kota junction, near the KL Festival City Mall, is 1.65 metres higher than the opposite side of the road, causing water to stagnate after a bout of heavy rain.
“In the original plan, the upgrade stretch was supposed to be raised 1.65 metres but was abandoned for no apparent reason,” Wee said.
“But the stretch in front of the KL Festival City Mall was elevated by 1.65 metres when the mall was being constructed.”
He said the slipshod work was possibly due to a restriction of completion time.
Wee said work on the project commenced in 2008 and was supposed to be completed in May 2009 but it was delayed into 2010.
“In July last year, the contractor requested for an extension until November this year, but I objected to it due to complaints from motorists an the traffic jam and dust pollution.
“City Hall too rejected the contractor’s extension application and the contractor was forced to complete the work by December last year.”
He said besides flooding, traffic congestion along the stretch of road was also a bane to motorists.
“Traffic is bumper-to-bumper during weekends,” he said.
He said the lack of a side road from Jalan Genting Klang leading to the mall was also contributing to the heavy traffic in the area.
He claimed City Hall had already approved plans to build a road, but used car dealers were still occupying a piece of land meant for the construction of the side road.
“Numerous eviction notices have been handed to them, but so far City Hall had yet to take action against them.”
Wee added he had raised these issues in Parliament recently.
Meanwhile, Federal Territories and Urban Wellbeing Minister Datuk Raja Nong Chik Raja Zainal Abidin, who visited Jalan Ibu Kota on Monday, said he expected to receive a report on rectification works next month.
“It would cost a lot of money to re-do the entire project so we just have to repair the road,” he said, attributing the flooding problem to the road’s “bad design”.
On the used car dealers, Raja Nong Chik said there was no urgent need to relocate them.
After almost four years since the project began, the upgrade of Jalan Genting Klang was completed on Dec 31 last year.
It involved enlarging the road from two to three lanes in both directions.
Early this year, City Hall had conducted a survey on the road widening work and found that residents were apparently happy with the upgrade.
However, the local authority also reportedly acknowledged there were some weaknesses with the road, particularly the uneven level.
