KUCHING: Opposition leader Chong Chieng Jen has stepped in to help highlight a decade-long flash flood problem at two residential areas here.
On Wednesday he appealed to the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (DID) and Kuching South City Council (MBKS) to take immediate action to solve the problem troubling Taman Durian Burung and Happy Valley along Jalan Luis here.
Chong who is Sarawak Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman said residents staying in the said areas have been plagued by flash floods for the past ten years.
“In recent years, due to fast housing and commercial development in the vicinity of the two housing estates and the lack of proper drainage planning, the frequency of flash floods occurring in the area has increased.
“For the houses at Happy Valley (Jalan Luis), the water level will rise to the doorsteps after only 20 minutes of heavy rain and the houses at Taman Durian Burung also suffer the same fate after half an hour of heavy rain,” he said in a statement posted on his Facebook account.
Chong said according to observation by the residents, the excess rain water at Happy Valley discharges into Sungai Tabuan while the excess rain water at Taman Durian Burung discharges into Sungai Maong through the main culvert running across and beneath Jalan Tun Jugah.
The culvert running across Jalan Tun Jugah is only 2.5 metres in diameter and was constructed in the 1970s, they claimed.
“As the discharge points were constructed many decades ago, the rate of discharge of rain water through these discharge points can no longer cater to present rainfall, especially given that many of the previous natural water retention areas have now been developed into housing or commercial estates,” said Chong.
“The problem is made worse when the drains were not regularly cleared thus having debris and rubbish partially blocking the drains and slowing down the rate of discharge of rain water.”
Following a meeting with the from both areas on March 25, he wrote a letter to DID to widen the discharge points and deepen the Tabuan River and to MBKS to clear the drains and waterways in the areas.
“The widening of the present discharge points for the two areas will not require huge funding and can be implemented quickly,” he said.
The Stampin MP said he welcomed any alternative proposal to solve the flooding woes in the areas. Chong’s special assistant, Sim Kiat Leng handed over the letter to the authorities on his behalf as Chong is currently attending the parliament sitting.
