Unbearable stench for flat dwellers
By CHOONG MEK ZHIN
A POSSIBLE underground broken pipe could be causing waste from the Taman Bukit Anggerik Flats in Cheras to backflow into the first floor units of Block A causing unbearable stench for the other residents as well.
Bandar Tun Razak Parliament Constituency Service Centre director Lim Heng Lin said the backflow problem occurred about a month ago but the source could have started much earlier.
The main problem: Residents talking to one of the Indah Water workers and pointing at an opening on the ground floor where the stench is coming from.
“The blockage would have taken some time to clog up the pipes. The residents had been aware of the stench for many months. And now with the waste backflow in the first floor residents’ toilet bowls, the matter warrants serious attention,” Lim said.
He added that the flats consisted of two blocks with 180 units and said the problem could spread to nearby Block B because the pipes might be linked to one another.
“The ground floor residents did not experience the backflow problem because they have a different piping system from those living in the upper floors,” Lim said.
During a site visit along with some workers, Indah Water Konsortium Sdn Bhd (IWK) senior communications executive Sheah Wen Yann said they suspected the pipe was broken because there was no outflow at all.
“If it was only a blockage, the water would still flow through. Since there is no outflow, we suspect the pipe is broken,” Sheah said.
She added that the flats were privately owned thus the residents would need to send in a formal request to IWK before they could fix the problem.
According to Lim, IWK representatives had visited the flats three times before his meeting with them.
“I will be writing to IWK as well as Suruhanjaya Perkhidmatan Air Negara (SPAN) requesting for immediate rectification to the blockage,” Lim said.
Chin Weng Yin, 42, who just moved into a first floor unit a month ago said whenever water was used, whether on the first floor or the upper floors, backflow would occur on the first floor.
“ It’s troublesome not to be able to cook or even shower in my own home,” Chin said.
