After latest inundation, local council spends RM700,000 on flood mitigation measures
Retiree Abd Rahim Abbas has been living in his home in Kampung Separa, Kulai in Johor, for 40 years and has experienced flooding many times.
Along with his elderly wife and their son, they are among 150 residents in the village who have been suffering from frequent flash floods there.
The worst incident, Abd Rahim said, was in 2007 while the latest major flood last month saw his single-storey house inundated twice in a week, resulting in losses of more than RM10,000.
He said the waist-deep water destroyed his furniture, electrical appliances and other belongings.
“Nowadays, we worry whenever it rains,” he said, adding that the May floods also killed his chickens.
Abd Rahim hopes for a long-term solution to address the floods issue in the village.
Another resident, Nor Shaikina Azman, 34, also lamented that her family suffered losses amounting to almost RM10,000 during the floods in May.
She urged the authorities to widen existing drains and build a retention pond.
“We just want a permanent solution so that we do not have to live in fear every time there is heavy rain,” she said.
Housewife Haslinda Abdullah, 63, said the flood not only caused property damage but also brought in wild creatures.
She recalled seeing eels and snakes swimming through the murky floodwaters that rose to above knee level at her home.
“It was frightening because we could not see what was beneath the murky water,” she said, adding that her family spent hours cleaning mud and debris after the water receded an hour after the downpour.
Haslinda said she hoped for a permanent solution, especially with the wet season expected in the coming months.
Caretaker state housing and local government committee chairman Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor said investigations found that the extraordinary rainfall and backflow from Sungai Skudai were among the main causes of the flooding.
He said authorities had also identified non-compliance involving the Erosion and Sediment Control Plan (ESCP) requirements at a nearby housing development project, which contributed to the situation.
“The developer was instructed to immediately undertake corrective and mitigation measures to prevent a recurrence.”
Jafni said the developer had carried out repairs to the ESCP system, besides conducting desilting works and enlargement of the retention pond as well as cleaning the drainage system.
In addition to volunteers from his office, Jafni said the developer’s workers were also deployed to assist residents in cleaning flood-affected homes and the surrounding areas.
He said RM2,000 worth of meals were distributed to residents and volunteers involved in the cleanup effort.
He added that Kulai Municipal Council had spent about RM700,000 on flood-mitigation measures in Kampung Separa, including the construction of a 30m concrete embankment and upgrades to the drainage system that were in progress.
