DBKU council member Datuk Wee Hong Seng (second left), Abdul Wahap (third left) and others looking at the progress of the sewage system at India Street yesterday. — Photo by Mohd Rais Sanusi

KUCHING: India Street here will be the first in the country to have a centralised sewage system.

Datuk Bandar of Kuching North City Commission (DBKU) Datuk Abang Abdul Wahap Abang Julai said this meant all housing and commercial centres’ waste would go through a central system. The waste then would go through a treatment plant in Bintawa before discharge, he said.

“This system is similar to those in London and Paris. The waste from new buildings only need to be connected into the system. This will add tremendous value to new properties,” he told a press conference here yesterday.

He was updating the local media on the progress of upgrading works of India Street. On this, he said that there was a slight delay, with the roofing phase to commence in January next year, the latest.

He would negotiate with the contractors to dig holes for the sewage at night in order to have minimum disruption to businesses in the area.

“The project is still on track, albeit a slight delay due to the building of the inspection chamber for the sewage.” On another matter, Abdul Wahap advised the public not to carry out illegal building extensions, stressing that such exercise would need prior approval from the local authority under the Building Ordinance 1994.

“If they extend illegally, the structure’s integrity will be affected and safety is compromised. We have noticed that a few shops have done illegal extensions and we have issued stop-work orders and require the extensions to be demolished.

“We have issued three stop-work orders this year, but the owners have yet to take down the structure. It becomes an eyesore and we will take it down and charge the owners,” he said.

Asked on their locations, he said they were at Jalan Haji Taha, India Street and Gambier Street.

Apart from that, he also urged the public to report to the commission of any individuals soliciting for funds, reminding that DBKU had never solicited for funds.