The above caption is just one of the many slopes along a major road used by residents of Kota Kinabalu to bypass the city. There is an abandoned house located next to the slope. This caption happens to showcase the slope that is located opposite the closed observatory which had once been a pride of Kota Kinabalu. Sadly to say, the observatory had been closed for refurbishment works which never really got started except for some hoardings and maybe some micro piles. The observatory now remains an eyesore to the residents here.
Back to the slopes along the road; this road is relatively quite busy in the morning when people send children to school and also when people commute to and back from work. The slope has been protected by the blue canvas since 2019 before the onset of Covid-19 and there are many slopes protected by blue canvasses along this road.
Up to now, we have not witnessed any slope monitoring or slope repair works. The only changes are the blue canvas which had been replaced a few times over the 4 years period. Occasionally, we witnessed more soils and boulders running down the slopes when the canvasses were torn, to the extent that half the road was closed. Sadly to say, many summer dry months had come and gone which could be good times to carry out slope repairs but nothing had been done.
It would be very sad days when the house collapsed due to slope failure or the slopes collapsed onto passerby traffics. In that case, shall we even dare to blame God for the bad weather which caused slope failures? Sometimes, we wonder if our country's debt is so much that we cannot even afford basic maintenance for our slopes. How long should we have to live in such unsafe conditions?
In conclusion, mitigation measures using canvasses are simply not acceptable for permanent solutions. Engineering studies on such slopes on major roads or where major infrastructures such as water tanks are involved should be carried out and appropriate mitigation measures be proposed. We would love to see that our roads, houses and infrastructures are safe again.
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