Today, The Star reports.
KUALA LUMPUR: People living and working at the busy Golden Triangle here experienced a triple whammy after part of a road adjacent to the construction of an underground tunnel collapsed at the junction of Jalan Imbi and Jalan Pudu.
Motorists were caught in a massive traffic snarl while the monorail service from the Imbi and Hang Tuah stations was suspended indefinitely for safety precautions.
To make things worse, there was an unscheduled water disruption in the area due to a burst pipe apparently caused by the sinkholes near the upcoming Pudu Underpass project by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL).
Earlier yesterday, two sinkholes were separately formed at about 10.30am and 12.20pm following the collapse of part of the road.
The condition worsened as a further cave-in caused the two sinkholes to merge into a huge indentation hours later.
Commuters of the LRT Ampang line were forced to exit at the Imbi monorail station and proceed to the Hang Tuah LRT and monorail interchange.
A statement issued by Syabas said that several areas, including Jalan San Peng, Jalan Bukit Bintang, Jalan Pudu, Jalan Alor, Jalan Loke Yew, Jalan Mesui, Jalan Hang Tuah, Jalan Imbi and Jalan Davis, were suffering from low water pressure.
“DBKL (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) has appointed a contractor to repair the pipe so that water supply can resume in the areas,” it said.
Meanwhile, Rapid Rail Sdn Bhd CEO Khairani Mohamed said the Kuala Lumpur Fire and Rescue Department had advised them to temporarily halt their monorail service to avoid further impact to the soil erosion.
“The monorail structures are still intact and our contractors have placed devices on the monorail piers near the worksite to monitor the situation,” he said in a statement.
However, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor, in a statement issued at 6.30pm, said that a broken water pipe had caused water to seep into the area and weaken the soil structure, resulting in the initial 6m sinkhole.
He expected remedial work to take about two weeks to complete.
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Here are some links from yesterday and it's regional news, if not world news.
http://www.thesundaily.my/news/1099959
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/02/bomba-dont-mock-tape-use/
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/02/Underground-tunnel-collapses/
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/07/02/Collapse-Imbi-Pudu-closed-two-weeks/
http://www.thestar.com.my/News/Nation/2014/04/24/Road-closure-between-Chulan-Square-and-Menara-Worldwide-closed/
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/world/undeground-tunnel/1230150.html
http://mob.com.my/news/community/july-2014/sinkholes-on-jalan-pudu?feed=MOBlatest10blogs
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With a major intersection of two major roads in Kuala Lumpur blocked for an estimated two weeks, it sure will be "fun" for motorists and monorail commuters in Kuala Lumpur.
That sinkhole is pretty close to the pillar supporting the monorail track and if the track collapsed as well, boy! it will be even more "fun" for Kuala Lumpur folk.
And what if part of the Berjaya Times Square shopping mall and office complex nearby collapsed as well or if it cracks?
Perhaps they should leave the sinkhole as it is, since it would be a great tourist attraction.
Today, The Star also reports:-
"KUALA LUMPUR: Soup kitchens will no longer be allowed to operate within a 2km radius of Lot 10, which covers a large portion of the city centre, effective immediately, said Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor."
Lot 10 referred to is a luxury shopping mall in the centre of Bukit Bintang (Star Hill), a major tourist and entertainment area in the heart of Kuala Lumpur called the "Golden Triangle". Bukit Bintang is also reputed to be Kuala Lumpur's red light district.
I wonder whether this is a warning to the Minister from the divine above.
BTW. I only visit the Bukit Bintang area to shop for computer accessories in Low Yat Plaza, a mall dedicated to selling PCs and mobile phones. Earlier I used to hang out at Imbi Plaza which was THE mall for PCs and computer accessories, until Low Yat Plaza was built. Otherwise, Bukit Bintang is a cesspit as far as I'm concerned.
Meanwhile, my friend and neighbour Sheikh complains about the construction of a sewer outside his house by contractor Mangkabumi and the noise and diesel fumes from the huge machines being used which is disturbing their sleep and affecting those sensitive to fumes.
I understand that this sewer is based upon a technology employed in Taiwan and will channel waste water and sewerage (excreta and urine) to a treatment centre where it will be converted by a process into drinkable water.
I wouldn't be surprised if some entrepreneurial type bottles the output of this plant as drinking water branded as Scheiss Water.
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Meanwhile, below is a slide from the presentation made by Malaysia's Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak when announcing Malaysia's Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) on 25 October, 2010.
Whilst I don't doubt the RM48,000 GNI per capita (RM4,000), with the current inflation rate in the Klang Valley which is estimated to be around 5 to 6%, what will be the purchasing power of RM4,000 per month in 2020?
Also, I believe GNI per capita is an average figure and quite often averages lie, since where there is a huge income disparity, the majority of the earning population would be earning less than the average. According to Department of Statistics figures, the median income by 2020 will be RM36,000 per annum or RM3,000 per month per capita and in statistics, the median is a more representative figure. Well how far will RM3,000 go in the Klang Valley today, let alone in 2020?
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Blogger IT.Scheiss wrote an analysis of this, "Malaysia: A "High Income" nation for whom by the Year 2020?", over here.
However, IT.Scheiss should have factored in the effects of inflation into his analysis. Based upon extrapolation of increases in GNI per capita before the Economic Transformation Programme was announced, by employing compound annual growth rate (CAGR) calculations, IT.Scheiss worked out that the GNI per capita figure in 2020 would be around RM48,000 per annum anyway, even without the Economic Transformation Programme. It may surprise many but according to World Bank, United Nations and others' figures on GNI per capita in other countries, it's increasing steadily in most countries, which really means that the the purchasing power of money in our pocket is shrinking due to inflation.
That's why you can never take just one metric quoted by these agencies seriously. I'd be more interested in a figure which represents the real purchasing power of income relative to a given year, say 1971 when President Nixon took the U.S. Dollar off the gold standard.
That was the beginning of the descent of the U.S. economy "into the scheisshaus" as IT.Scheiss would say, where just two years prior, the U.S. had landed astronauts on the moon and teenagers at the time, myself included, were looking forward to travelling through outer space in spaceships, not sitting on our backside behind a computer screen whilst "travelling" through Cyberspace.
Hooray! It's just started to rain, so hopefully Selangor Chief Minister Khalid won't have an excuse to re-introduce water rationing and blame it on El Nino.
Whilst there is talk that he could be ousted as Chief Minister by a Pakatan Rakyat (People's Pact) assembly (his own party and its allies) in August or September, I wonder whether whoever replaces him will try to put a stop to KIDEX (Kinrara-Damansara Expressway), or will it just be a case of old wine in a new bottle.
Bah! It has stopped raining.
No2KIDEX
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