PERLIS FLOOD WOES TO BE RESOLVED SOON
Flood-mitigation project will be completed on time in December, says MB
FLOOD woes in Tebing Tinggi are expected to be resolved in December when the Timah Tasoh West Flood Diversion project is ready, Perlis Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Azlan Man said.
Azlan said the people affected by floods should be patient as the RM260 million project would be completed on time.
He said the flood in Tebing Tinggi, the worst-affected area in the state, was caused by the construction of a bridge linking Kampung Wang Besar to Tebing Tinggi.
“The construction of the canal has been completed but the problem is with the 500m bridge.
“We cannot speed up the bridge construction due to several problems, including the rainy spell for the past several weeks.
“The construction is progressing on schedule and expected to be ready by December,” he said after visiting flood evacuees in Padang Nyu relief centre on Friday.
Azlan said water could not flow smoothly as the bridge was not ready.
“If we release the water through the tunnel, it may cause erosion on the concrete wall of the bridge,” he said.
“Another problem is that the project consultant failed to carry out a full assessment of the condition of the area, which forced changes to the original job scope.”
He said with the changes, the state government needed to give approval before works could resume and this took time.
Tebing Tinggi resident, Jamaliah Salleh, 62, hoped the project would be completed by December as pledged by Azlan.
She said flash floods caused by the project not only burdened her family during the rainy season, but also affected her second child, who has Down’s syndrome.
Jamaliah said her daughter, Fitriah Istiharah Jamaluddin, 36, would be terrified whenever the area was hit by flash floods.
She said it was fortunate that her other children were around to help get Fitriah to safety when their house was in knee-deep water at 8pm yesterday, as she was at work.
“Fitriah would freeze in her position whenever she is surrounded by a pool of water. She was terrified to see a large amount of water.
“They had no option but to get her to wade through waist-deep floodwaters outside the house,” she said at the relocation centre at SK Bintong.
The flood situation in Perlis is improving, with the number of evacuees dropping from 1,721 people to 1,520 yesterday.
Three relocation centres, namely SK Batu Bertangkup, SK Datuk Jaafar Hassan and Dewan Sekolah Hwa Aik, have been closed.