Rivers to be realigned to stop floods

The river is much lower than the culvert in Sungai Gong

THERE may be some relief from floods in Rawang and its surrounding areas of Kuang and Kundang as the state government plans to upgrade the drainage and embark on a river expansion project.

Residents complained that after a downpour, the water level would rise up to 1.5m and that the situation had worsened compared to 10 years ago.

Selangor Infrastructure, Public Amenities and Agro-based Industry Committee chairman Zaidy Abdul Talib said the RM250mil Jalan Rawang-Batu Arang (B27 road) expansion was under way and should be completed next year to help relieve flooding in Rawang.

“This mega project will see the Gombak Drainage and Irrigation Department looking into the alignment of three rivers along the stretch, namely Sungai Bakau, Sungai Kundang and Sungai Gong.

“Besides this, for Kuang and Kundang areas, the project to deepen Sungai Kundang is being done in stages and include the planned upgrading of the bridge in Bandar Baru Kundang, for which a tender has been called.

“A retention pond will be built in Bandar Baru Kundang to realign Sungai Kundang to its original state as settlers had diverted the river.

“The Gombak District Land Office is monitoring the situation to ensure developers in the area maintain their retention ponds.

“This is needed as the area was once wetlands and able to retain floodwaters in Kuang and Kundang naturally,” he said when contacted.

Villages and townships at the river basin were badly hit in the most recent floods on April 16 and 18, especially residents in Kampung Baru Kundang, Kampung Sungai Serai and Kampung Melayu Sri Kundang.

Mohd Anuar Husin, 43, from Kampung Baru Kundang, said that he had to throw away his cupboards, bed and sofa set.

“My motorcycle was badly damaged. Now, my family sleeps in the hall on mattresses. I may have to move out as the state government has failed to solve the flooding here,” he said.

Zuharni Hasan Bakri, 40, said that his cupboard, kitchen cabinet, dining set and other furniture were ruined too.

“The state has done nothing to compensate us or look into resolving this problem,” he said.

Rabin Singh Baldave Singh, 18, said it took him five hours to clean up after floodwaters entered his house in New Green Park, Rawang, on April 18.

“The monsoon drain that is connected to Sungai Rajah overflowed. This has never happened before,” he said.

Bandar Country Homes Phase Two Resident Association president and Kampung Sungai Dua Federal Village Development and Security Committee (JKKKP) secretary Datuk Seri A. Balakrishnan said that state government should have a sense of urgency about the situation.

Selayang MIC chairman M.B Raja pointed out that the state had installed an automatic water pump in Rawang town.

“The water pump is not functioning properly and water has to be pumped out manually,” he pointed out..

Raja claimed that since 2008, the people of Rawang and its surroundings have been caught in the middle because of the unplanned rapid development including too many new townships.

Kuang assemblyman Datuk Abdul Shukur Idrus said about 500 families in his constituency were affected by the floods.

“I am doing my best to help flood victims who lost so much in the floods, including refrigerators and washing machines.

“The state government received RM500mil annually under the Malaysian Road Record Information System (Marris) funds that could have been channelled to deepen rivers and repair drainage.

“The state government likes to boast of their reserves amounting to RM4bil but people are suffering as their basic infrastructure needs have not been looked into,” he said.