Dennis Gordon sounds alarm on Sandy Gully

Shadow Minister for Urban Renewal and Redevelopment, Dennis Gordon, is urging the Government to prioritise urgent and sustained action on the Sandy Gully, one of the Corporate Area's most critical drainage channels, warning that years of neglect has placed lives and properties at immediate risk.

"The Sandy Gully is no longer a routine maintenance matter. It is a national infrastructure emergency," said Gordon.

"We cannot continue to wait for disaster before we act. The time has come for a strategic, well-funded, and sustainable plan to secure the lives and livelihoods of residents living along and downstream of this vital waterway."

Gordon stressed that the recent flooding in the Corporate Area underscores the need for both emergency repairs and a dedicated portion of the national capital budget for long-term rehabilitation, maintenance, and management of major drainage systems. He is calling on the Government, through the National Works Agency and other relevant state bodies, to provide engineering reports, structural assessments, and socio-economic surveys of affected communities, as well as comprehensive records of maintenance works over the past 20 years.

He also urged the use of cadastral maps and the development of a robust urban redevelopment and drainage management plan.