PROBLEM CULVERT AT KAMPUNG TANAKI PENAMPANG REPLACED, BUT... REPLACEMENT MAYBE WORSE

 

The ORIFICE culver of Kampung Tanaki, Penampang 

 

In situ concrete box culvert under construction but terrible workmanship 

 

PENAMPANG.  A flood-causing concrete culvert pipe less than 1 metre diameter under a high embankment road at Kg Tanaki here, is finally being replaced.

Installed when the road was built about 3 decades ago, crossing a rivulet in the village, the undersized culvert bluntly called  "orifice" is not to JKR specification, hence easily clogged causing flooding upstream. Pic 1.

Daily reported the village was still flooded under hot sun on 16 February when Member of Parliament Datuk Ewon Benedict and Kapayan Assemblywoman Janie Lasimbang came to inspect after being informed by the residents.

The upgrading works though welcomed is causing massive traffic jams during peak hours, though temporary may still take 2 months to complete.  Residents nearby said its unnecesary waste of time and taxpayers money compared to installing the proper culvert size earlier.  In addition,  excavation and filling up of a good road also damaged water pipelines to the villagers.

Tunelling under the high road embankment is either too expensive or  technology not available, a netizen said.

Adding further worries, the in-situ casting of a concrete box culvert by a new contractor is described as "Very Bad Workmanship" by retired JKR engineer and an experienced contractor.  As seen in pic 2, the concreting seemed to be mixing with soil while the two layers of BRC reinforcings have no spacing. Hence the concrete cube test taken on site is meaningless, according to another engineer.

Netizens are also asking how long will this new culvert last before collapsing.  They also request the government to monitor all other culverts being installed especially the Pan Borneo project which has been alleged to cause floods.

 

 

 

YB DUN KAPAYAN JANIE LASIMBANG LAUNCHED RETORT FOOD "HERO MEALS" AT WISMA IDS

 

 Janie with the rest of officials

The types of dish available from Kendera Kitchen

KAPAYAN.  Assemblywoman Janie Lasimbang promised to introduce to the State Government a new pre-packed emergency ration food named "Hero Meals" designed specially for disaster relief operations such as floods and earthquakes.

She said this while launching and distributing samples of the rations to bodies usually involved during disasters such as Bomba,  Civil Defence, District Office and NGOs such as PACOS at IDS Hall here.

She said food is the first thing needed both by the victims and rescuers during any disaster and shall be distributed in a fair manner without any religious, racial or political overtones.

The Hero Meals are packed with lables, "not for sale" and one of the main sponsor is CIMB Bank.  The lady representative informed the bank has sponsored  up to 250 thousand ringgits for the country of which 10 thousand is allocated to Sabah for now.

Meanwhile CEO of Kembara Kitchen William Cheah said he started  developing this fast ration meals taking inspiration from the Military rations after the largest recorded flood in Kelantan in 2014, described by others as "tsunami-like disaster".

Cheah said, " although we are in the food business, we found it impossible to assist in supply and preparation of food in disaster areas where water supply, electricity and other means of food preparation are all not available."

A lot of effort were done to get the correct ingredients to ensure it preserve well in the packets so all that is needed is to open the packet and its ready to eat or warmed in hot water if available, he said.

Penampang is also chosen to be the first packaging centre in the state at Pacos centre and plans are afoot to have other centres at Kudat and Sandakan area, to ensure preparedness for any disaster.

Hero Meals currently is available in seven types of dish which are: Rice Basmathi with curry chicken, Arab Rice with Nohutlu Tavuk, Rice Basmathi with curry vegetable, Rice Basmathi with Dalca, Fatty Rice with Sambal Sotong, Yellow Rice with Chicken Curry and Spaghetti Bolognese with chicken.

 

(article previously rejected by Daily Express)

 

 

DATUK EWON BENEDICT LAUNCHED BKD WORKBOOKS FOR YR 4,5,6 AT ITCC KADAZAN LANGUAGE CARNIVAL 24 SEPT 2023

 

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Ewon and Philip launch the BKD workbook while Raisin and Rita looks on

Drone delivers workbook mockup to stage

  Entrance of students with workbooks

The VIPs on stage before the launch

 

PENAMPANG. The Minister of Entrepreneur Development and Cooperative, Datuk Ewon Benedict said, any resident who has views or proposal on the Penampang Development Plans need not wait for state Institute of Development Studies (IDS) to come to them but can submit their papers to him or direct to IDS.

He said this after launching the workbook for teaching the Kadazan Dusun Language in school for Primary 4 to 6 at ITCC Hall here weekend.

The issue was raised because in the last Council rezoning exercise, some residents were shocked to find their residential houses and native lands including natural rivulets proposed to be gazetted as Heavy Industrial Zone. Other anomalies found were hills gazetted as padiland while some lowland are marked as hill conservations.

Regarding the Carnival on the KadazanDusun language to be held next year, Ewon proposed to create awards to appreciated those who had made the teaching of the language in school a great success, and to give scholarship assistance to future teachers and lecturers of the language.

Present during the event were State Director of Education Raisin Saidin,  Chairman of Yayasan Bank Rakyat Philip Lasimbang, other education officials from schools and colleges and Kadazan Language Foundation KLF.

SUGUD FLOOD VICTIMS WILL TAKE YEARS TO RECOVER THEIR LOSES

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

 

Two Kg Tampasak mothers show the flood level at the Dewan Raya which was 5 ft 8 inches

 

 

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)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

TAMU DONGGONGON TO RE-OPEN AFTER SECOND MCO on 24th March, Wednesday

 From Right:  John Gintos, Robert Malangkig, George Limjon (Tamu Master), Johnny (council staff) attending the Gotong Royong

 

 

 

PENAMPANG.  Tamu Donggongon will re-open this Wednesday 24th after the Council and the Donggongon Tamu Traders Association held a gotong royong on Monday participated by 200 association members and council staff.

Council Executive Officer Robert Malangkig said all open markets such as Tamu Sangadau, Pasar Borong and Donggongon Tamu were closed due to the Covid19 pandemic, however when the government allowed them to re-open, Tamu Sangadau immediately opened while adhering strictly to the SOP, sanitizers, temperature scanning and social distancing and the same applied to Pasar Borong under the supervision of Persatuan Pemborong Sayur Sayuran dan Buah Buahan.

The Donggongon Tamu Traders Association chose to remain closed until today when they are satisfied the pandemic is under control. The opening hours are Wednesday 12 noon to 6 pm, Thursday 6 am to 6 pm and for Friday 6 am to 3 pm, he said.

Meanwhile Chairman of the Tamu Traders John Bonius Gintos invites all the customers back saying this time there will be two entrances and three exits all manned by their members for the safety of everyone while the Tamu ground is wire-fenced. All the stalls will be arranged with a minimum 1 metre distancing and the now familiar SOP fully implemented.

This is good news to both the traders and consumers since the Tamu has been well-known for a vast variety of products even attracting foreign tourist. A few hit songs in KadazanDusun languages are even on air in local radio stations praising the Tamu.

 (previously sent to Daily Express,  but was not accepted)

 

 

 

PLASTIC UPCYCLING IS THE TREND NOW : YB JANIE LASIMBANG

 

 

 The HDPE turbine wheel that can power a 3kW AC generator

 

 

For the Albums

Adrian and Janie holding recycle products while seminar participants hold their certificate

Sunday February 21, 2021

PENAMPANG.  To overcome or reduce plastic pollution, upcyling is the trend now compared to just recycling, said Kapayan Assemblywoman Janie Lasimbang during a morning seminar "Plastic Tinkers Introduction" for 24 youths here, weekend.

While recycling is just reusing the same material for the same purpose, upcyling means producing a new product with added value from the same plastic waste as there is money in plastic instead of being dumped in landfills or polluting the environment, she explained.

Even though the seminar was brief involving a small number to comply with current SOP, the three objectives were met namely:

* to get the youths interested and mobilise them in collections of high grade plastic that can be upcylced,

* train them as leaders in own community leading to youth empowerment bringing home new knowledges

* some may come back as entrepreneur themselves with new ideas of commercial products.

Janie also sponsored the basic equipments that can shred plastic from which it can be heated, extruded or pressed to produce new products such as wires, flower pots and plastic wood.

Speakers who are involved with the Centre of Renewable and Appropriated Technology (CREATE) gave short talks on backgrounds of plastics and how they pollute the environment, identifying only 7 out of 600 types that can be recycled. The best grade known to date is HDPE or high density polyethylene which is the choice for upcycling.

Janie's younger brother Adrian who is well know for tinkering and inventing new products demonstrated his new pelton turbine wheels made from recycled HDPE bottles. The 14 inch diameter wheel can power a 3kW generator for micro-hydro system suitable for small remote villages on the hills. "HDPE Turbines made in Penampang" Adrian quipped.

Responding later to queries from the public, Adrian informed they are still in Research and Development phase, however when they reach commercial phase, he will setup mobile collection system for the recycleable plastics. For the time being he welcomes only plastic HDPE bottles for discovering techniques at his research cum workshops at Kg Nampasan here.

 

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THE FIRST BUSKER AND CAROLLERS TO PERFORM UNDER CHRISTMAS BACKDROP IN DONGGONGON 22 DEC 2019

IN PREVIOUS YEARS buskers were not seen at Donggongon because the Council demands licence at RM100 per performance which was a ridiculous rate because the collection by any busker group rarely exceeds that amount and most of the buskers were more or less performing just for fun and pastimes. The new councillors after the GE14 has better brains and ordered that the licence be given to any group for a token of RM3. Hence the moods in town has changed ever since. All performance must cease at midnight.

The SantaiBusk and K2 carollers were the first to perform with a Christmas Backdrop provided by private shopowners.

 KRAZEE CAFE owners spending all nights to build a backdrop for Christmas

 SantaiBusk Frontman Lorna in action,  kaaa ka

 K2 carollers actually in action