Darell: Long-term solution to flooding in Penampang needed
KOTA KINABALU: Warisan Sabah has called on the state government to formulate a long-term solution to overcome the perennial flooding in Penampang.
“It is high time for the state government to engage with all the respective stakeholders in this matter such as Drainage and Irrigation Department, Town and Regional Planning, the affected residential and business communities,” said Warisan deputy president Darell Leiking who is also the Penampang member of parliament.
Leiking said based on visits and preliminary reports he received from the affected stakeholders, the ineffective clogged drainage system around Kapayan could likely have caused the flash flooding.
“Many of the drainage systems around that constituency (Kapayan) were built in the early 90s and are no longer able to accommodate the heavy rainfalls as well as the massive development that had contributed to the poor planning.
“This had been exacerbated by massive development which had taken away all those small pockets of retention ponds or swamps as could be seen at Bundusan,” he said.
He believes that a restructuring programme on the drainage systems in Kapayan and Luyang is badly needed and old drains have to be replaced.
“We have hundreds of small drains all over the areas and they all contribute to quick and efficient discharge of rainwater to the sea.
“But most of these drains are small and in some cases, clogged culverts contribute to the overflowing.
“It is time to replace these small drains with bigger ones or at least to ensure that it is efficient with periodic maintenance by appointed contractors,” he added.
He also said it was crucial to install a gate in Sembulan and build a pumphouse to avoid high tides coming in.
“The gate will prevent high tide from coming in while the pumphouse will discharge the water out to the sea when the gate is locked.
“This should have been prepared a long time ago but it saddens me to see our state government has failed to do so,” he added.
Leiking also warned that the floods on Saturday and Sunday would not be the last to be encountered by the people of Kapayan, Moyog and Luyang.
“If the Chief Minister and state cabinet ministers continue to sit on this issue, then the people will continue incurring losses of millions of ringgit," he said.