GE15: Resolving Klang’s flash floods will be priority, says candidate Ganabatirau

KLANG, Nov 11 – Tackling the floods and environmental woes in Klang will be done holistically, says Pakatan Harapan’s candidate for the Port Klang parliamentary constituency, Ganabatirau Veraman.

While he expressed hope that the five-year flood mitigation project launched earlier this month (Nov 1) – which will see the deepening of the Klang River to handle flood water flow – will help ease the flood problem in the Klang areas, he said other drainage repairs and upgrading were also ongoing.

The December floods were caused by sea tide as well as heavy rains and as such, the project launched by the Selangor government for widening of the Klang River, is expected to ease some of the flood problem, he said. The RM700 million project will cover some 54 kilometres river bank area along the Klang River.

Meanwhile, some of the repairs and upgrading involving pumps, bunds to ensure the proper workings of the drainage and irrigation systems have been completed, but others are ongoing to ensure that any flood situation can be handled, Ganabatirau said.

On the recent flash floods, he said this could be also due to some drainage roadworks by the irrigation and drainage department and the works department.

This has been going on for a long time and request has already been made at the state assembly to push for a speedier completion of these roadworks, he said.

He was asked on the measures being taken to prevent massive floods like that of last December.

“Even before the massive floods, efforts were taken to ensure that the pump houses were in order. I had even voiced out against the inefficiency of the irrigation and drainage department of Klang (JPS). Many times, I had visited the areas with the Majlis Perbandaraan Shah Alam, and the engineering team and pointed out the many repairs that had to be done and so on.”

Following the massive floods, the local council has been continuing to work with the JPS to ensure that all the breakdowns identified even before the floods and following the floods had been repaired or upgraded. While some of the repairs have been completed, there is still some more work to be done, he said.

“Work on the Bukit Lanchong river bund and the pump house has been completed and as for the Lanchong Jaya, the bund has been repaired but the works on the drainage side by MPSJ is ongoing and as for the bund, discussions are ongoing with JPS. For Kampung Baru Hicom, work on the bund has been fully repaired and as for the pump, discussions are ongoing. As for Sri Muda, the bund has been fully repaired. All the funds for these repairs came from the state government. Nothing came from the Federal government, although these funds were supposed to come from them.

“Works on the pump house in Sri Muda has already started and this is expected to be completed by mid next year. Meanwhile, temporarily, four pumps have been installed since 2021 and after the massive floods, two pumps have been upgraded.

“Another two pumps were also installed in Sri Muda on Wednesday (Nov 9) by JPS, following the high volume of water seen on Tuesday,” he added.

He said the ongoing drainage works in Taman Sri Muda and Jalan Bukit Kemuning, where there are many residential and industrial areas, had contributed to the recent flashfloods here.

According to him, other factors such as illegal dumping of garbage had also contributed to the flash floods with garbage choking up outlets and blocking the flow of water.

He also said the flash flood in Taman Bukit Rimau was also caused by the free flow of water from the Kesas Highway, which does not have separate water outlets directly to the river.

“The previous administrations have overlooked this matter, and we are now talking to Kesas Highway and hope to resolve this matter by next year.”

— WE