KUALA LUMPUR, 11 March 2009: Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) will build two more holding ponds and raise existing river embankments as part of flood mitigation measures in the national capital.
Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Ahmad Fuad Ismail said DBKL would also review the Sungai Kroh-Sungai Jinjang river diversion project, implement fast deliveries of information to affected residents in the event of flooding, and install more flood warning sirens.
There was no plan, however, to build a second storm water management and road tunnel either for flood mitigation purpose or to ease traffic congestion, he said.
“The existing tunnel is sufficient. What we need to do is to upgrade the facility in line with current needs,” he told a news conference.
He said that a second tunnel was not practical at the moment because it would cost billions of ringgit to construct.
“It is also difficult, not to mention dangerous, to dig tunnels in the Klang Valley because the valley sits on granite rock,” he said.
Several areas in the capital city were inundated by floodwaters following a two-and-a-half-hour downpour last Saturday.
On the holding ponds, costing RM2 billion, Ahmad Fuad said they would be built in Kampung Buah and Kampung Benteng in collaboration with the Irrigation and Drainage Department.
It would be completed between four to six months, he said.
“With the two new holding ponds, the Klang Valley will have six such facilities,” he added.
On the Sungai Keroh diversion project which had run into delays, Ahmad Fuad said DBKL was considering various options including having a new contractor complete the project.
“The existing contractor is given until July to complete works on portions which have fallen behind schedule,” he said.
Ahmad Fuad said DBKL was also looking at how best to implement works to upgrade embankments from Maxwell to Sentul Fire and Rescue Department and Putra World Trade Centre as well as the 1km wall in the area.
On flood warning sirens, he said, several more would be installed in flood-prone aareas in addition to the 12 existing ones in the Klang Valley. — Bernama
