JOHOR BARU: About 50 houses in Kampung Pasir in Tampoi here, were inundated after a floodgate at a tributary broke loose under pressure from a high tide, causing water from Sungai Skudai to overflow into the village.
The incident occurred at about 12.30am on wee hours of Monday (Oct 12), with water levels rising to 3.7m within a short period and flooding residents’ homes.
It was the second flooding incident in the area, following a pump breakdown on Sept 30 that affected more than 200 houses and about 1,000 residents.
Resident Jalil Selamat, 67, said he was asleep with three family members when they were jolted awake by the rising water.
“We were prepared because high tides had been forecast over the past three days, and we knew there was a risk of flooding.
“But the situation was made worse when the floodgate broke last night, causing the water to rise very quickly,” he said when met at the village.
Jalil, who has lived in Kampung Pasir for 42 years, said flooding had been a longstanding problem that had become increasingly frequent in recent years.
“Nowadays, our homes can be flooded two to three times, resulting in damage to furniture, electrical appliances and other belongings,” he said.
He added that the water receded at about 4am, roughly three hours after the incident, but returned around noon again as the tide rose again, with the floodgate still unrepaired.
Kampung Pasir village head Zaini Sinong said there were six floodgates in the area to regulate the entry of seawater, but one had broken loose, allowing water from Sungai Skudai to spill into the village.
“The water rose to calf level. Fortunately, no untoward incidents occurred,” he said.
On the construction of a new pump house in the area, Zaini said the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) project was progressing according to schedule.
He said the project began on June 30, 2024, and was initially scheduled for completion on July 30 this year.
“The new pump house, which runs entirely on electricity, has been physically completed and is now undergoing electrical supply connection works,” he said, expressing hope that it would begin operating soon to resolve the long-standing flooding problem.
Meanwhile, state public works, transport and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh, who visited the village, said a new screw pump with a capacity of 100 cubic metres per second was expected to be operational at Kampung Pasir within two to three weeks.
He said the existing pumps, with a combined capacity of 40 cubic metres per second, had been insufficient during the Sept 30 floods, prompting the authorities to bring in an additional 10-cubic-metre-per-second pump from Sungai Chat as an immediate measure.
“Once the new screw pump is activated, the total pumping capacity at the site will increase to 150 cubic metres per second,” he said, adding that electrical cable installation was underway.
Mohamad Fazli said that one of the floodgates at the site had also been damaged, it was affecting the effectiveness of the pumping system.
He added repairs were targeted for completion before the next high tide at 7pm, with sandbags to be used to temporarily seal the leak if necessary and reduce the amount of water entering the village from Sungai Skudai.
