Stormwater detention facility to solve Happy Valley flash flood woes
KUCHING: Residents of Happy Valley affected by f lash f loods last year were invited to Gala City Development’s premises yesterday to be updated on the current f lood situation in the area and briefed on steps taken to address the situation.
On May 1 last year, heavy rainfall caused flash floods in a few low- lying residential areas in Kuching City.
Among the worst affected areas were Happy Valley and Premier 101 Commercial Centre, where water was seen rising up to two feet, causing damage to not only properties and furniture inside houses, but also to vehicles.
A total of 16 families and residents suffered damage caused by the flash floods. After discussions with the Drainage and Irrigation Department ( DID) and Gala City’s developer San Chin-BBC JV Sdn Bhd, residents were promised that several measures would be taken to mitigate the flash floods.
During the meeting, Lee Chin Teck, the managing director of San Chin- BBC JV, announced that the expedited construction of the Urban Stormwater Management Manual ( MSMA) stormwater detention facility that sits below Gala City has just been completed.
It is understood that the facility is a large reservoir where Gala City’s stormwater will be collected and discharged slowly into appropriate drainage systems in order to minimise the amount of stormwater that will inevitably f low from Gala City, which sits on high ground, to low- lying surrounding residential areas like Happy Valley.
While Happy Valley residents did experience some minor f looding to their car porches during last month’s heavy rainfall, Lee believed the flooding would likely not occur again considering that the MSMA facility has been fully completed and connected.
“It wasn’t complete during the flash floods of May 2017 and the minor flood last month. But now that the MSMA is connected, I believe this will not be an issue anymore.
“Furthermore, we have also constructed a culvert that will help divert the flow of stormwater from Premier 101 to appropriate stormwater drainage systems instead of Happy Valley,” he said.
However, Lee conceded that the measures would not be able to guarantee that no more floods would occur in the future, taking in view that Happy Valley is situated on low ground – three metres below road level.
In this regard, Sarawak United Peoples’ Party ( SUPP) Public Complaints Bureau chief Wilfred Yap, who was monitoring the meeting with Kapitan Wong Ka Chuan, announced that his party would seek approval to build a special pump that would further reduce the risk of floods in the area.
“We have already approached the DID and SPA (State Planning Authority) to approve and get a pump that will pump water out of the low land in the area during times of heavy rainfall. It will cost around RM900,000 and we are currently fighting for the funding.
“That is the commitment on the part of SUPP. We will try our very best to get you that funding, but I also hope that residents can also understand that this will be based on priority.
“While it is very important to you, there might be other priorities that the government has to consider as well. So on that particular part, I hope residents will be able to give us a little bit of time and a little bit more understanding on the matter,” Yap told residents present during the meeting.
Ending discussions on the flood issues, Lee went on to announce that the insurance compensation pay- out amounting to RM77,570.63 had been approved and would be issued to all 16 affected families and residents.