KUCHING: The RM150 million Kuching flood mitigation project was approved by the previous Barisan Nasional government in 2016 under the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP), before the PH became the federal government.
So, it was not the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government which approved the project, the Sarawak United People’s Party (SUPP) reminded the DAP.
SUPP women chief Kho Teck Wan said although it was not cancelled, the much-needed Kuching flood mitigation plan was put under review by the PH government after the 14th general election (GE14) in 2018.
“Despite the overwhelming support by voters in Kuching and Stampin for PH, they did not expedite the project (put on hold and under review) when they were the federal government,” she said in a statement today.
It was only in December 2019 that Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar, the Gabungan Parti Sarawak’s (GPS) MP for Santubong at that time, who demanded a status update on the non-progressing RM150 flood mitigation plan in Parliament.
“Even though he wasn’t a representative of Bandar Kuching or Stampin constituency, he raised the issue. And thanks to him (Wan Junaidi), the project was finally approved for resumption after more than a year,” she said.
She said the consultant was only appointed on Feb 28, 2020 and the actual implementation of some disaster mitigation projects only started in 2021.
She was responding to DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen’s statement recently claiming that “the RM150 million Kuching flood mitigation plan was approved by the PH government. It was the GPS that was unable to carry out the project after the fall of the PH government.”
Kho said she would like to appeal to state and federal legislators in Kuching and Stampin to actively fight for the upgrade of the drainage infrastructure instead of pointing fingers and focusing on trivial issues.
The project, known as the Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Development (PLSB), covers nine locations and includes the upgrading of drainage in five locations.
According to Bandar Kuching MP Dr Kelvin Yii, the project includes the upgrading of drainage systems in five locations — SGH, the government quarters at Jalan Tun Jugah, Batu Lintang area, SK Muara Tuang in Samarahan and the drainage along the Kuching-Samarahan Expressway.
There will also be flood mitigation projects for flood barriers along Sungai Gersik, Sungai Sinjan and the dredging and deepening of Sungai Tengah and Sungai Minjab.
He said the physical construction of the project was supposed to start in 2021 and was to have taken four years.
However, Yii said the Sarawak Drainage and Irrigation Department only received approval for the nine project locations from the State Planning Authority (SPA) last December.
“Now, physical construction is only slated to start at the beginning of next year at the earliest, and is expected to take up to four years to be completed,” he said.
However, South City Council (MBKS) Mayor Datuk Wee Hong Seng recently said the project will be implemented once the Putrajaya gives the green light on the submitted ‘Notice of Change’.
