Kepong residents voice concerns over untreated sewage

Too close for comfort: Laman Rimbunan residents standing on top of a clogged drain that was cleared recently which is causing a stench throughout their neighbourhood.

THE stench from the untreated sewage from the Taman Tasik Metropolitan Kepong in Kepong is unbearable.

Unable to take it anymore, some 60 residents from Laman Rimbunan, Kepong gathered at the lake to voice their dissatisfaction.

Laman Rimbunan Residents Association chairman Go Kim Peng, 52, said the residents here had to bear the smell for the last eight months and there was nothing done to stop this until they saw the City Hall workers clearing up the pond recently.

He said a sewage treatment plant in Selayang was not functioning and the raw sewage flowed into the pond, causing the massive stench that has been affecting some 600 houses in Laman Rimbunan.

Another resident K.L Yap, 66, who has been staying in the area for four years, said she was unable to keep her door open.

“This is because the smell comes into our house and I feel like vomitting.

“Although we are staying in a million ringgit three-storey link house, we are facing the problem daily,’’ she said.

Another resident C.L Tan, 58, who has been staying here for four years, said he had to make sure his doors were shut all the time.

“I am also embarrased to invite close friends and family members to my house because of the stench outside.

“I hope something is done immediately to settle our woes,’’ he said.

Kepong MCA task force team leader Tan Kok Eng, visited the site together with residents and was also unable to take the stench coming from the lake.

“When we were here, the City Hall officer, who wish not to be named, were heading a team with two boats to clean the stench, cutting the waterlily plants.

“He told me that City Hall will do the cleaning up of the pond daily from now on and the long term solution is to place two aerators in the pond to ensure the water circulates.

“City Hall also promised to have a paddle wheel placed in the pond.

“The officer confirmed that sewage was flowing into the lake and told me that sewage treatment plant in Selayang was not functioning and the raw sewage flowed into the pond, causing the massive stench here,” said Tan.