Finally, repaired!

Anyone going up the Bukit Mertajam hill lately would not have failed to notice the subtle changes to the area. I've written before about the authorities finally removing the eyesore of the broken bridge at the foothills. It was an unwanted landmark: a bridge that spanned nothing, a bridge that was broken, and a bridge that has now been torn down. Thank goodness for that.

But I've long griped about the erosion at the foothills too. Anyone taking a walk up the hill track would have noticed the soil erosion. It was so clear that only a blind man could miss it, because the track would take a person directly to the concrete pathway.

See that wooden beam in the picture? Previously there was a concrete slab but it collapsed more than a year ago. Water had eroded the soil beneath the slab and it finally gave way way back in January 2008. Every time I passed this place, I had been taking snapshots to put in this blog in the hope that somehow, some day, someone will take notice of the situation and take quick action. Of course, for a long while, nothing happened.

Then on Friday, when I went up the hill, I thought there was something a little different about this area. As usual, I did take a photo but I was distracted by the swollen stream. If I had been more observant, I would have seen that finally, the authorities have done something!


There's a new concrete slab in place and it has been nicely cemented up. No more doing a small detour around the old hole. So all my months of complaints have paid off. Someone in the Penang government finally sat up, oiled the wheels and put them into motion and actually did something for the local community. I'm not going to mention names but I've got to give them my heartfelt thanks, even though it's for a simple job that took 15 months to complete...