10-year wait for pedestrian bridge over - The Star

Jul 21, 2008 Story and photos by PRIYA MENON

ABOUT 20,000 residents will benefit from the new pedestrian bridge in Wangsa Maju.

Section 2 Wangsa Maju residents are delighted that the new bridge connecting Block C, D and E to Block B is now ready for use.

“A walk to the shops or Wangsa Maju LRT station now takes just five minutes compared with 15 minutes previously,” said Marilyn Gerard, 23.

Work on the RM170,000 bridge began in February and was completed a week ago.

Long-awaited facility: The new pedestrian bridge will be useful to more than 20,000 residents in the Section 2 area of Wangsa Maju.

“We have been waiting for more than 10 years for the bridge to be built,” said Chan Sai Moi, 56.

A condominium built 10 years ago blocks the path residents used in the past to get across to the shoplots. The alternative route was to go around the blocks of flats to reach their destination.

“We are glad the bridge is ready but we hope that the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) can put up streetlights because it is dark at night,” Chan added.

Wangsa Maju MCA division chairman Datuk Yew Teong Look said he would request for the streetlights to be put up as soon as possible.

Potential mosquito breeding ground: Yew looking at the brokenstone slabs in a drain located in Section 2 Wangsa Maju.

When Yew first asked the DBKL to build a bridge they had accidentally built it in Section 1, Wangsa Maju, but the bridge had also proved useful to the residents in that area.

“Although it was a mistake it was a good one because we were going to build one there anyway,” Yew added.

Yew said he had also asked DBKL to fix a broken drain in the area so that it would not pose problems for residents in the near future.

“The broken stone slabs will become an ideal place for aedes mosquitoes to breed, so we want to stop that from happening,” said Lim Cheng Hock, chairman of the Joint Management Committee of Section 2.

Lim said they would request DBKL to pay for the compound’s electricity bill that costs the residents RM700 a month.

“The committee has been paying for the compound lights for 20 years now when it is supposed to be paid by DBKL,” he said.