Flood mitigation project along Sg Gersik ready to be implemented

Kho (in yellow shirt, third right), Dr Abdul Rahman (fourth right) and others listening to a briefing on the Sungai Gersik flood mitigation project under PLSB. Photo credit: Kho Teck Wan

KUCHING, Nov 22: The flood mitigation project along Sungai Gersik in the greater area of Kuching City is ready to be implemented.

In a statement, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party Women chief Kho Teck Wan said the project was tendered out by Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sarawak in November this year.

Kho revealed that DID Sarawak was able to call for the tender due to the intervention of Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Dr Sim Kui Hian after a working visit to Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad.

“The outcome of such a visit has managed to get kind assistance from Minister Nik Nazmi to follow up with the Ministry of Finance (MOF) to expedite all necessary processes, including financial and administrative documentation by the ministry.

“The collaboration between Dr Sim and MOF has fast-tracked the implementation of this project.

According to Kho, Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Project (PLSB) is a federally funded project under the 11th Malaysia Plan approved during former Prime Minister Dato Sri Najib Tun Razak’s administration before 2016.

She elaborated that it was approved to mitigate floods in the greater Kuching area.

“Despite the overwhelming support shown by the voters in Bandar Kuching and Stampin to the Pakatan Harapan in the 2018 General Election, the much-needed Kuching flood mitigation plan was put under review by the PH government after GE14 in 2018,” she added.

“After much delay, the project was finally given the green light to resume in 2020.”

She also revealed as of May this year, DID Sarawak received RM6.9 million out of the RM150 million allocated to the PLSB flood mitigation project for Bandar Kuching.

Kho shared that today, DID Sarawak Deputy Director Law Wee and his team of DID engineers along with a project consultant had taken them to Kampung Gersik to explain how the river improvement works in Sungai Gersik will help resolve flash flood issues facing the neighbourhoods along Sungai Gersik.

Accompanied her was Deputy Minister of Utility and Telecommunication, who is also the Pantai Damai assemblyman Datuk Dr Abdul Rahman Junaidi, together with Kuching North City Hall (DBKU) staff to check on the progress of the flood mitigate initiatives for the flood zones along Sungai Gersik Petra Jaya.

Kho further disclosed that a 6.9-acre detention pond with 2-metre depth, a 265-metre-long drain with 2-metre base width, and a 1.2-metre pipe culvert with flap gate, were proposed for flood mitigation along Sungai Gersik.

“This project is one of the nine projects under PLSB, which will take two years, and is designed to resolve flash flood issues near Kampung Boyan, Kampung Gersik, and Kampung Surabaya Ulu.

“DID Sarawak stressed that although the proposed flood mitigation projects will resolve the flash flood issue facing neighbourhoods along Sungai Gersik, it is however not designed to prevent flood due to phenomena of high tide and drainage blockage,” she said. — DayakDaily