Tired of potholes, residents take to FB
Chai Jian MeiPublished: Jan 16, 2015 9:36 AM | Updated: Jan 16, 2015 4:52 PM
Tired of countless potholes surfacing on roads, concerned residents have set up a Facebook group as a means to alert the authorities.
Geo-tagged photos of potholes seem to be getting gov'ts attention at last.
Tired of countless potholes surfacing on roads, concerned residents have set up a Facebook group as a means to alert the authorities.
Shaun Amirthalingam, the administrator of Pot Hole Malaysia, said he started the page last week as a grassroots initiative to solve the longstanding issue.
“Actually the whole idea is (that) I just want something to be done on the potholes,” Shaun told Malaysiakini.
The Facebook group has more than 400 members, who upload geo-tagged photos of potholes and complaint reference numbers given by local government.
This has received the attention of local authorities with some responding to complaints on the Facebook page.
Among officials who responded was DAP’s Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San who posted complaint procedures.
Shaun said that before he set up the page, his complaints on potholes were mostly ignored. The residents were also disappointed because the problem has not been effectively addressed by the authorities.
Moreover, the local authorities had also repeatedly asked for exact locations of potholes whenever complaints were made via the hotline provided, he said.
“I can’t be taking the whole day going to the streets to take photos here and there and upload into email to submit (to them). It’s too many.
“(Not) until these few days when I started the page that they (the authorities) actually took notice of it and try to do something about it,” Shaun added.
Patch-up work
This garnered the attention of DAP’s Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran, who met up with Shaun to discuss the matter last night.
However, Shaun seemed dissatisfied with the discussion which he said did not offer a long-term solution.
In a posting on the Facebook page, he said that he had written to the Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali to hold an open forum on that matter.
In an email to Malaysiakini, Rajiv (left) said the state is looking to spend RM600 million for road resurfacing, which needs to be done every seven to 10 years.
Much of the problem comes from repair works by utilities companies, said Rajiv, who claimed he is liasing with the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to improve standards and beef up enforcement.
He also said that as most potholes were caused by unplanned road digging by the utilities companies, penalties will soon be imposed if proper patch-up work is not properly done.
MBPJ has just appointed 12 additional contractors to do patch-up work, and a stop-work order had been issued to the respective sewage company due to the bad resurfaced portion of roads done, said Rajiv.
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CHAI JIAN MEI is a trainee reporter with Malaysiakini.
Shaun Amirthalingam, the administrator of Pot Hole Malaysia, said he started the page last week as a grassroots initiative to solve the longstanding issue.
“Actually the whole idea is (that) I just want something to be done on the potholes,” Shaun told Malaysiakini.
The Facebook group has more than 400 members, who upload geo-tagged photos of potholes and complaint reference numbers given by local government.
This has received the attention of local authorities with some responding to complaints on the Facebook page.Among officials who responded was DAP’s Kampung Tunku assemblyperson Lau Weng San who posted complaint procedures.
Shaun said that before he set up the page, his complaints on potholes were mostly ignored. The residents were also disappointed because the problem has not been effectively addressed by the authorities.
Moreover, the local authorities had also repeatedly asked for exact locations of potholes whenever complaints were made via the hotline provided, he said.
“I can’t be taking the whole day going to the streets to take photos here and there and upload into email to submit (to them). It’s too many.
“(Not) until these few days when I started the page that they (the authorities) actually took notice of it and try to do something about it,” Shaun added.
Patch-up work
This garnered the attention of DAP’s Bukit Gasing assemblyperson Rajiv Rishyakaran, who met up with Shaun to discuss the matter last night.
However, Shaun seemed dissatisfied with the discussion which he said did not offer a long-term solution.
In a posting on the Facebook page, he said that he had written to the Selangor Menteri Besar Azmin Ali to hold an open forum on that matter.
In an email to Malaysiakini, Rajiv (left) said the state is looking to spend RM600 million for road resurfacing, which needs to be done every seven to 10 years.Much of the problem comes from repair works by utilities companies, said Rajiv, who claimed he is liasing with the Petaling Jaya City Council (MBPJ) to improve standards and beef up enforcement.
He also said that as most potholes were caused by unplanned road digging by the utilities companies, penalties will soon be imposed if proper patch-up work is not properly done.
MBPJ has just appointed 12 additional contractors to do patch-up work, and a stop-work order had been issued to the respective sewage company due to the bad resurfaced portion of roads done, said Rajiv.
________________________________________________________
CHAI JIAN MEI is a trainee reporter with Malaysiakini.
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