Tiang: RM275 mln Sibu Flood Mitigation Plan Phase 5 to be proposed under 13MP

SIBU (Aug 18): Phase 5 of the RM275 million Sibu Flood Mitigation Plan to resolve flooding issues in Pelawan will be proposed under the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP), said Michael Tiang.

The Deputy Minister for Public Health, Housing and Local Government revealed that the project will cover Sungai Merah, Sungai Seduan and Sungai Antu areas.

He will work closely with Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) elected representatives in the area to make sure that this project will be implemented soon.

“It will be very significant for Pelawan area, to which we will deal with Jalan Ling Kai Cheng, Jalan Gelama, Jalan Sena and Jalan Apollo.

“I will continue to work with the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) to fight for Phase 5 to be approved by the federal government – requires federal funding. It will require RM275 million to implement that project. So, it is a huge project.

“And I will work together with my GPS colleagues to make sure that Phase 5 will soon be implemented so that flooding issues in the mentioned areas in Pelawan will be resolved once and for all,” said Tiang.

The Pelawan assemblyman was speaking to reporters after visiting the flood mitigation project’s site at Pump Station No. 8 here today.

Tiang was joined by DID Sibu divisional engineer Rudi Abang Zamhari and other engineers from the Institution of Engineers Malaysia (IEM) Sarawak Branch.

“Currently, I need to inspect certain areas like Jalan Pelangi – they (residents) still facing flooding issues.

“This is because after the flood mitigation plan has been implemented, the local drainage system needs to be linked up with the main system so that the existing water will be discharged to Rajang River.

“We are going to inspect the places to see which part of Sibu needs to be linked with the main system,” he said.

On Phase 4, he disclosed that it is still in the design stage and to be synchronised with the Bukit Assek Redevelopment Plan.

During his visit to the Phase 3 project site, Tiang was informed that the Pump Station No.7 at Sungai Bakong and No.8 at Sungai Beranggau will be commissioned next month.

He also noted that each of the two stations is equipped with three pumps each.

“One unit of pump can pump out 3,000 litres of water per second. And if needed, all three units of pumps will operate altogether at once, pumping out 9,000 litres of water per second,” he said.

He was confident that the commissioning of the pump stations will help to resolve flash flood issues in areas such as Kampung Hilir, Kampung Datu, Kampung Nangka including part of Pelawan area such as Jalan Suarah.

Adding on, he disclosed that many residents in the Sibu Civic Centre area have requested him to deal with flooding issues there.

“I have yet to implement any plan (at the moment) because I want to wait for pump (stations) no. 7 and 8 to commission first to see the impact. I am very confident that with the commissioning of these two pump stations – these residential areas, the flash flood problem will be resolved very soon.

“And now, we are left with two phases – Phase 4 and 5. I want to thank Sibu folk for giving strong mandate to the Sarawak GPS government to enable us to carry out this mega project for Sibu to resolve the perennial flooding issues.

“With the strong support of Sibu people to have a strong GPS team in Sibu, we can gather to continue fighting for all this flood mitigation plan, which has taken two decades to fully complete, involving huge budget.

“We need that strong mandate from Sibu folk. We are not going to be disappointed when we complete all five phases of the flood mitigation plan in Sibu. And then, we see that Sibu finally will get over the perennial flooding issues,” he said.

Tiang reckoned that from there onwards, there can be more focus on having better infrastructure and other urban planning features to be installed in the riverine town.

“And Sibu can have a very exciting future as I see it,” he added.

Earlier, Tiang noted the successful implementation of Phases 1 and 2 of the flood mitigation project had kept low-lying areas in Jalan Lanang including the General Operation Force (PGA) camp in Upper Lanang dry during year end, especially monsoon period.