SANDAKAN: Safety concerns have been raised over an open sewerage hole at a construction site along Jalan Sim Sim here after a four-wheel drive vehicle skidded into it on Monday (Dec 22) afternoon, with no warning signs or adequate safety barriers at the location.
Tanjong Papat assemblyman Alex Thien said the sewerage hole was part of an ongoing project under the Sabah Sewerage Services Department, which remains incomplete.
He said the project, which he had raised during a recent state assembly sitting, was originally scheduled for completion by November 2025 but has since been granted an extension of time until 2028.
“This is not the first case. The area is under construction, yet there were no highly visible or reflective warning signs, no cover over the sewerage hole, and the safety barriers there are insufficient,” he said when contacted Monday.
Thien also warned that water had collected in the sewerage sump, adding that the victims could have drowned if they had not been rescued immediately by members of the public.
He said he would be meeting representatives from the Sabah Sewerage Services Department and the Public Works Department (JKR) to address safety issues at the site, noting that the sewerage works stretch from Jalan Sim Sim towards the Sandakan fire station area.
Earlier, Sandakan OCPD Asst Comm George Abd Rakman said the incident occurred at about 4.30pm and involved a 24-year-old local man who was driving the vehicle, along with a passenger.
He said preliminary investigations found that the driver is believed to have lost control before the vehicle struck a concrete barrier and plastic road divider on the left shoulder of the road, causing it to veer into the open sewerage hole.
Both the driver and passenger sustained minor injuries and were taken to the Duchess of Kent Hospital for treatment.
The case is being investigated under Rule 10 of LN166/59 of the Road Traffic Rules.
The latest crash echoes a similar tragedy in April 2023, when a 52-year-old man died after a car driven by him fell into a partly constructed sewerage pit filled with water in Jalan Lintas Utara, Mile 3, Sandakan.
