Mohd Jafni (wearing cap) visiting one of the potential spaces that motorcyclists can use to park their vehicles at Jalan Meldrum, Johor Baru.
THE Johor government has allocated about RM62mil for flood management this year, with most of the money going towards the upgrading and maintenance of drainage systems.
State housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said a special meeting on flood management with 16 local councils in the state would be held.
“The meeting will be chaired by the Iskandar Puteri City Council, which will also act as the lead council in this matter.
“We have identified 120 flood-prone areas in the state, with the majority of the hotspots located within Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) area with 36 locations and Kulai Municipal Council (MPKu) with 23 locations,” he told StarMetro.
From the overall sum, about RM25.7mil will be used to upgrade and conduct maintenance on the drainage systems; RM7.3mil for river cleanup; RM1.05mil for sewers; RM5.3mil for flood retention ponds; and RM22.75mil for other maintenance and repair works.
“The flood in early March that affected all 10 districts in the state, especially Segamat and Batu Pahat, has taught us to be better prepared for any unforeseen circumstances.
“Some of the local councils have started to clean their drainage systems and rivers, so this is more about how we can streamline and coordinate this operation together,” he added.
On another matter, Mohd Jafni said Johor government was working to provide ample parking spaces soon for motorcyclists to leave their vehicles when they go to work in Singapore.
The government is currently in talks with some landowners near the Customs, Immigration, and Quarantine Complex (CIQ) in Bangunan Sultan Iskandar to convert space for motorcycle parking, he added.
Many motorcyclists park near the Causeway and use public transport to head to Singapore for work.
“I went to see some of these possible spots with MBJB on April 2.
“One of the locations that we found was in Jalan Inderaputra, Stulang Darat.
“There are also a few pocket spaces which could be transformed into a parking space, but we need to approach this from short-term and long-term perspectives,” he said.
The government is currently trying to estimate the number of motorcycles that can be parked here, besides ensuring ease of access and safety, he said.
“We know that about 300,000 Malaysians are crossing over every day, but we don’t have a rough estimate for the number of motorcyclists.
“We also plan to have a shuttle to transport travellers from the parking space to the CIQ (depending on the distance).
“There are also a few locations that were previously used as parking spaces before the Covid-19 pandemic but have not reopened until now,” he said.
Currently, motorcyclists need to pay RM4 for a day and RM120 a month to park at a private parking bay.
