KUCHING: Kuching South City Council (MBKS) mayor Datuk James Chan expressed his concern about flash floods occurring in some areas within MBKS jurisdiction during the present rainy season.
“The flash flood issue in MBKS areas will lessen if federal funding worth RM150 million had been channelled to us to improve Lintang Park, Durian Burung and Sungai Tabuan Dayak areas last year.
“When it rains heavily for more than an hour, there will be flash floods at some locations like Hup Kee and Tabuan Dayak areas. We are aware of this because the drains we have at the moment are not able to take the volume of water,” said Chan at a press conference after chairing the MBKS Full Council Meeting yesterday.
According to him, the RM150 million would have improved the situation but MBKS did not get it last year. He said the federal funding was supposed to be channelled to the state Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to carry out drain improvement works in MBKS areas.
However, the mayor said, they received RM15 million from the federal government to repair and maintain drains in MBKS areas last year.
“We have repaired those old drains to speed up the flow of water. It’s not that MBKS is doing nothing.
“Currently, we are working on improving the old drains in Ellis Road,” he stressed.
According to him, among the areas involved last year were Hui Sing, Tabuan Jaya and Kenyalang Park. The old drains measuring over 1.5 metres wide are categorised as trunk drains and are under the jurisdiction of the state DID.
