Kampung Kohizan residents face flooding inside their homes every time heavy rain falls.
KOTA KINABALU: Every time the skies darken over Kampung Kohizan here, residents brace for yet another flood.
Nestled between Kepayan Point and Pintas Avenue, the village has become vulnerable to rising waters, turning homes into pools and losses into a painful routine.
For Joseph, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years, the worsening floods are more than an inconvenience.
“They are a nightmare,” he said when met on Monday (Feb 10).
“It is frustrating. The water rushes in, and we are left scrambling to save what we can.
"We’ve suffered thousands of ringgit in damage to appliances and furniture. How long do we have to live like this?” he asked.
Residents say the problem began after the construction of Pintas Avenue.
They claim a drainage system built alongside the development’s retaining wall created a blockage instead of improving water flow.
The shallow drains have no proper outlet to the main drainage system, causing water to overflow into the village, they said.
Among the worst-hit is Angeline, whose home floods whenever it rains.
“All our furniture was destroyed. But the worst part? The water takes days to subside. We have to pump it out of the house ourselves,” she said.
Amid the residents' growing frustration, Parti Warisan Penampang’s district monitoring unit visited the area and found that the drainage system put in place by the developer lacked proper outflow to the greater drainage system.
“The drainage ends at an earth drain near the Sabah Electricity tower, but the outlet is just a two-foot (0.6m) culvert," said unit leader Pritchard Gumbaris.
“When we checked the water flow near the vegetable and fruit wholesale market, it was barely trickling out.
"That is why the water is stagnant ... it has nowhere to go. And when it rains, Kg Kohizan pays the price,” he said.
Gumbaris then contacted the Penampang District Council, which agreed to construct an earth drain to replace the culvert and improve water flow.
However, the project stalled pending consent from an adjacent landowner.
Gumbaris also criticised the inaction of local leaders.
"Why does it take us raising concerns before anything happens?
“They should be more proactive in solving community problems. They have access to government resources, use them," he said.
In the meantime, Kg Kohizan residents like Joseph and Angeline said they continue to view cloudy skies with fear.
