KLANG: The Klang district flood mitigation project, jointly carried out by the Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Klang Royal City Council (MBDK) and the Shah Alam City Council, has only achieved 50 % success.
According to the Auditor-General's Report on Selangor 2022, out of the ten flood-prone hotspots where mitigation work had been carried out, five areas had been overcome by flooding in one to four cases from 2016 to 2022.
The other five areas, Bukit Kemuning, Taman Rashna, Taman Intan, Jalan Bakti and Jalan Tengku Kelana, were not flooded after the mitigation project was implemented.
Names of the five areas where the mitigation project had failed to prevent flooding were not named in the report.
The report added that according to a DID statement on the matter, heavy rain, a drainage system that could not handle the burden of access water, and the building of roads and highways near the hotspots caused flooding in the five unnamed hotspots.
There were also weaknesses in the flood mitigation project management, such as overpayment, drainage that was blocked and unmanaged, floodwall with settled sediment, ungazetted catchment ponds and the frequency of task force meetings not keeping up with the stipulated requirements.
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The audit made some discoveries, such as that DID had overpaid contractors by RM422,778 through Contract Pricing Adjustment No 12, which was the final adjustment of the Temporary Allocation Funds (WPS) for Tenaga Nasional Berhad utility relocation.
Even though the relevant officers had carried out an inspection of the contractors’ maintenance works at the sites, no written reports had been prepared.
The drainage commenting Taman Berkat, Meru town, which goes straight to Jalan Kassim and Jalan Abdul Maman and ends at Jalan Salleh, had not been maintained by MPK because heavy sediment blocked water flow.
There were also a total of 41 ungazetted catchment ponds at the time the audit report was drafted.
The audit recommended that Selangor JPS, MBDK, and MBSA execute more careful planning for all allocation applications and take into account the need for input from relevant consultants for master plans and flooding hotspots so that the mitigation project can be carried out holistically.
Other recommendations included improving coordination amongst the relevant agencies, such as the local councils and JPS, in the flood mitigation project and implementing drainage system maintenance to prevent blocked and obstruction of water flow.
Selangor JPS must also ensure that the catchment ponds are all gazetted to prevent the risk of the lands being obtained for development in the area.
