PETALING Jaya City Council (MBPJ) will instal water pumps at four locations in Petaling Jaya Selatan to strengthen existing flood-mitigation efforts.
Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohamad Zahri Samingon said the water pumps would be installed behind Sri Manja Court Condominium in Taman Sri Manja; in Jalan PJS1/15 at the interchange to the Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas Highway); at Flat Medan 32 in Taman Buana Perdana; and in Jalan PJS3/56 of Taman Medan Baru.
“MBPJ built on-site detention (OSD) ponds and river overflow control structures (Skalis) at these locations between 2022 and 2024,” said Mohamad Zahri.
“Existing drainage systems cannot cope with current stormwater volumes,” he said, noting that OSD ponds, designed to capture stormwater runoff and release it slowly, could only contain about one hour’s worth of heavy rain.
“These new pumps costing RM5.6mil in total are now an urgent necessity,” the mayor added.
StarMetro last month reported that clogged drains, a silted up retention pond and extreme rainfall were among factors that contributed to flash floods that hit Jalan Sri Manja and the New Pantai Expressway near Taman Dato’ Harun late last year.
Mohamad Zahri said that due to budget constraints, MBPJ would allocate funds to build two water pumps behind Sri Manja Court Condominium and Jalan PJS1/15 this year (costing RM3.2mil), followed by Flat Medan 32 and Jalan PJS3/56 next year (costing RM2.4mil).
He also revealed that Selangor infrastructure and agriculture committee chairman Datuk Izham Hashim was scheduled to visit MBPJ after Hari Raya Aidilfitri to discuss flood mitigation measures in the city.
The mayor was speaking on the sidelines of a memorandum of understanding signing between MBPJ and Malaysian Institute of Planners (MIP) in Bukit Kiara, Kuala Lumpur.
The collaboration is aimed at improving the quality of urban planning practices and strengthening the role of town planning professionals as strategic leaders in urban management.
According to MBPJ, the agreement serves as a platform for long-term strategic cooperation in terms of research, professional training, education, capacity building, advocacy and implementation of pilot projects related to urban planning and community engagement.
The collaboration also supports data-driven urban planning, digitalisation of planning systems and a people-centred approach, in line with the aspirations of a sustainable city.
Emphasis is also placed on continuity of strategic recommendations by regional experts from the Placemaker Week Asean event organised by MIP and MBPJ last year.
Mohamad Zahri said the city council had established a task force to review recommendations that could be implemented in Petaling Jaya.
