AFTER years of repeated flooding, residents and shopowners of Taman Pusat Kepong in Kuala Lumpur are relieved that permanent mitigation works are being carried out.
Taman Pusat Kepong Residents Association deputy chairman Lee Woon Chow said flooding often occurred between August and December.
“Water levels would rise quickly. Most of the time, water enters the shops,” said Lee in a press conference.
He said the drainage system often failed because the retention pond it was connected to could not retain excess water during heavy rain.
“We are grateful that flood mitigation upgrades have been carried out by Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) together with the Drainage and Irrigation Department,” he added.
The RM70,000 project involved the construction of a bypass using twin box culverts to divert water about 100m towards Jalan Udang Rawa, instead of entering the pond and back-flowing into shoplots and homes.
DBKL engineer Errwan Abdul Rashid said work on the bypass began in July and was completed earlier this month, with further upgrades planned.
Community activist Yee Poh Ping said the next phase of the flood mitigation plan would be upgrading the drain from Jalan 4/40 to Jalan 2/40, measuring about 150m.
“The existing drain is quite old and will be widened with outlet holes installed to allow surface water from the road to flow in more effectively,” he said.
Other improvements include replacing the damaged concrete slabs covering the drains, bringing the overall cost of the next phase to around RM200,000, he added.
