Flood mitigation works begin in Section 51A, PJ

Selera Jaya 223 food court in Section 51A was severely inundated in April, May and July.

Flood mitigation works at Selera Jaya 223 food court in Section 51A are expected to be completed in five months, says Petaling Jaya mayor Datuk Mohd Yazid Sairi.

He said the Petaling Jaya City Council’s (MBPJ) appointed contractor started work on the project on Sept 14.

“It will take five months from now. We classified the project as one that needed to be carried out urgently.

“We used this year’s allocation to start work and appointed a contractor,” Yazid told reporters after the MBPJ staff excellence awards ceremony at Dewan Sivik MBPJ in Petaling Jaya.

Yazid confirmed that MBPJ used funds under its 2026 and 2027 budgets for the project.

Works at the food court area included building an on-site detention (OSD) pond at the adjacent carpark.

“It does not involve the structure of the food court,” he said, adding that several other measures have been identified to reduce the flood risk from slow drainage, both upstream and at the site.

Signboard for the on-site detention pond project to be located at an empty lot next to the food court.

The OSD pond was first proposed in June, when then-mayor Datuk Mohamad Zahri Samingon said it would be built on the empty plot used as a carpark.

The food court was hit by flash floods multiple times this year.

On April 20, water reached waist level, while some 60 stalls were submerged in 1.2m of water on May 6.

In the latest inundation on July 18, the water level reached up to 2m high.

MBPJ had previously attribu­ted the floods to more than 60mm of rainfall in a short period in upstream Kuala Lumpur.

On Aug 11, Yazid told Star­Metro that the city council was awaiting state approval before appoin­ting a contractor for the OSD pond.

Following the July floods, MBPJ gave the 54 affected traders a month’s rental waiver and 30% discount for rental from July to December, adding that MBPJ would also bear the cost of all post-flood cleanup.

On whether the discount period would be extended as the works are only expected to be completed in February next year, Yazid said the MBPJ would review the matter if there was a need for it.

“We will decide whether to continue or revert to the original rate next year, after the discount period ends.”

When asked whether the tra­ders would have to be moved to facilitate the mitigation works, Yazid assured that it would not disrupt business in the area.