4th October 2021
1. Prof Tongkul centre and Cikgu Tay right inspecting the pile foundations
Example of a car bashed by the flood
Miracle car being rescued with helf of excavator
PENAMPANG. Retired Geology Professor Felix Tongkul
estimates that about 80% of the original forest of Sugud catchment hills
are already gone due human activities. Hence the water retention
properties of a dense forest sometimes called the "sponge effect" is
nearly gone hence nearly all the rain water simply pours down from the
hills as surface run-off causing flash floods and higher flood levels at
the Sugud villages on 15 September.
Prof
Tongkul who is an ardent environmentalist said planting more trees can
reduce the flood only if the correct locations are planted with the most
suitable type of trees.
He
was joining a philanthropic NGO Osimal inspecting fast-built houses for
4 victims using the IBS system which can be completed in a week. It is
prefabricated in factories and quickly assembled on site with a uniques
foundation using a bored pile made of rust resistant aluminium alloy and
screwed deep into the ground. The estimated cost per unit is the same
as the government assisted PPRT houses. (houses for the extreme poor)
Cikgu
Tay who was instrumental in getting student hostel build at the remote
villages of Terian, Buayan and Longkogungan and now transferred to
Penampang again volunteered to be on ground in search for the recipients
which included a disabled person, a driver, a self employed with one
month baby and 3 other children at Kg Tinduuzon and another proposed at
Kg Kodou. All the victims have their houses totally destroyed by the
worst flood known in the area.
The
sense of devastation can still be felt after half a month with no
residents willing to speak on video camera or even named in interviews,
but social media practitioners say the media is full of strong words.
Most agree it will take a long time for the residents to recover, with
mud and debris still piled more than a metre high, the Dewan Raya at
Tampasak still have doors blocked with mud up to a foot deep.
Several
cars are reported as total loss with insurance agents confirming most
are not covered for natural disasters. However only one viralled
miracle car was recovered after sitting on top of timber debris for 14
days with only dents on front and back with not a drop of mud inside.
The rest of the vehicles are not even worth scrap metals.
An
engineer expressed the six (6) box culverts across the only Sugud River
to carry the Pan Borneo road instead of a bridge as per Drainage and
Irrigation guidelines constributed to the slow discharge of the flood.
The saw tooth upstream side of the culverts are easily blocked by debris
from the hills. He said the shear strength of the soils of the hills
are weakened by the continuous rain and more landslides should be
expected.
(articles previously rejected by Daily Express)
