Houses cracking up

18/09/2007 The Star By YIP YOKE TENG

PILING works for the new 1 Shamelin shopping mall in Taman Shamelin, Cheras, are believed to have caused cracks to appear on the walls and floors of the adjacent row of houses.

Residents of the nine houses along Jalan Perdana 7/3, Pandan Perdana, are a bundle of nerves as the cracks, some as wide as 5cm, are expanding by the day.

Cracks that appeared on the surface of a small lane by a monsoon drain which fringes the construction site and serves as the line of demarcation between the Cheras and Teratai constituencies, have been covered with cement.

All the way through: Chin showing how big the cracks are by putting his hand in.

The residents said the entire area was showing signs of sinking, as cracks were appearing between roads and houses and perimeter walls were out of the original alignment.

Mark Chin, 43, said his family did not dare enter the back portion of their house anymore for fear that it would collapse at any moment.

The walls and floors of his kitchen and bathroom have started to crack since the piling works commenced in July.

“Look at these cracks; I can even put my hand through them,” said the car accessory trader who has lived there for more than 10 years.

“The spun piling machine was placed right next to the residents' houses and was moved further away only on Wednesday when we contacted some newspapers,” he said, adding that the residents had, on many occasions, complained to the contractor.

Another resident, who wanted to be known only as Chan, said he had been feeling vibrations “three to four times more serious than what we could feel of the Sumatra earthquake”.


Shoddy job: Pereira showing officers from MPAJ and DBKL the shoddily covered cracks on the road surface.
“Look at the extent of the damage to my backyard,” he said, pointing at the cracked cement floor behind his kitchen. “I have not made any extensions to my house throughout the 15 years I've been living here. This is the original structure so the contractor cannot blame it on the materials used for our extensions.”

Higgins Pereira, who has 40 years of experience as a developer, demanded that the contractor put in black and white the proposed remedial measures.

Cheras MP Tan Kok Wai and DAP Teratai Community Centre director Jenice Lee Ying Ha took representatives of the contractor, developer, Ampang Municipal Council and Kuala Lumpur City Hall to visit the site on Thursday.

The shopping mall's property development manager, Kenny Yong, said the company had carried out the construction works according to plans and that what had happened was untoward.

“We are sincere in wanting to solve the problem amicably,” he said.

The contractor and developer agreed to repair the damage caused and to ensure that the residents' quality of life would not be affected for as long as the works were in progress. The project is scheduled to be ready by March 2009.

Tan said he would take officers from the Public Works Department to check if the contractor and developer had adhered to specified rules and regulations.