Construction activity cause of highway flood
THE development site in the Bangsar South area caused the flash flood at the Federal Highway in the city on Monday evening.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar ( pix) urged Kuala Lumpur City Hall to identify the problem at the site, which led to the flooding.
“The problem is the construction or development site,” he said.
He said there were no problems with the drainage and culvert, which come under the purview of his ministry.
“It was not the rain that caused flooding in that area in Kuala Lumpur.
“The capacity of the drainage and culvert could still handle the rain between 1pm and 4pm that day.
“The drainage and irrigation in KL is adequate in handling a downpour.
“But what happened was the mud and debris from the development site flowed into the drains which clogged up the culverts.
The clogged culverts prevented the water from flowing into the river, causing the rain water to overflow onto the road,” he told a press conference in Parliament yesterday.
A flash flood near the Bangsar South area along Federal Highway resulted in a massive traffic jam, as the six-lane road became a single lane between 4pm and 6.30pm.
Wan Junaidi said checks by the ministry found that the river at the time of the floods still had the capacity to take in more rain water.
Meanwhile, Bernama reported that Wan Junaidi hopes to plug loopholes involved in the illicit wildlife trade by amending the Wildlife Conservation Act 2010.
He said the ministry’s jurisdiction to seek legal redress was limited as there was no special provision in the legislation to charge or take legal action against online wildlife traders.