DEBAK: The Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) has been told to estimate the cost of implementing some measures to mitigate the perennial flooding that often affects Kampung Lalang, Kampung Bungey and Kampung Babu here.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah said the villages always got flooded during the rainy season from December to March each year. The current flood is in fact the second one this year.
He related this to reporters after being briefed by Betong DID officer, Bartholomeu Emily Ayu, on the problem during a short visit to Kampung Bungey yesterday.
Accompanying him were Betong MP Datuk Robert Lawson Chuat and Major Ismail Mahedin of the Civil Defence Department.
Uggah said although evacuation centres had been set up here, nobody had been evacuated from any of the flooded areas.
“But people get affected when their roads are flooded … communication get cut off and infrastructure and other properties get destroyed. Therefore, we must implement mitigation measures to benefit the people in the long run,” Uggah, who is also the State Disaster Management Committee chairman, said.
He promised to bring up the proposals to the attention of the chief minister, and he thanked the Betong Divisional Disaster Management Committee for promptly preparing for the annual flood.
Earlier in his briefing, Bartholomeu said the first time the three villages got flooded this year was last March. In 2017 and 2018 the villages, which have a total of 614 households, were flooded in February.
He said the flooding happened after a drain got clogged during the construction of SK Datuk Bandar where water from inland areas spilled over.
“When heavy rain coincided with the King Tide, Sungai Rimbas tends to swell and overflow inland,” he said.
He said among the mitigation measures proposed were upgrading of roadside drains in the villages besides creating outlets near SK Datuk Bandar and at the end of Kampung Lalang.
“The meanders along Sungai Rimas need to be diverted or straightened to allow flood water to bypass Debak town.
“Hydraulic structures such as penstocks, flap gates and creek closure shall be provided to control and regulate the river water,” he said.
Bartholomeu also said the existing waterfront at Debak town needed to be upgraded as part of the overall flood mitigation proposals.
