SIBU: The flood gates here started operation yesterday.
INITIAL STEP IN FLOOD CONTROL: The water is pumped out beneath the wall on the left.
For the first time in history, the low-lying areas in Bukit Assek constituency stretching from Hua Kiew Road to Lower Lanang remained dry as the river water rose with the king tide.
For years, the low-lying areas used to be flooded at such times, but there was very little water or no water at all on most roads in the low-lying areas yesterday.
At the waterfront yesterday morning, the rising water nearly touched the bank. While the water on the river was high, the water behind the flood gates was about four to six feet lower.
Drainage and Irrigation Department Sibu chief engineer Ting Sing Kwong confirmed with The Borneo Post they started the gate operation yesterday.
“It has helped in controlling the flood today (Tuesday) in the low-lying areas, where water will usually rise at such time.”
He said the flood gate near the Lembangang Market was built with five pumps and the one near Kingwood with another four.
“When the river water is high, water pressure will force the flood gate to be shut, and the pumping station will start drawing the water out from inside.”
On the other hand, he said when the water behind the gate was high, water pressure would also cause the gates to open.
“The operation of the two flood gates costing about RM40 million is automatic.”
He said the water was pumped out yesterday at 3 cubic metres per second.
Ting however, reminded the residents that floods would still occur, but the incidents would be reduced.
He said there were still leakages from the river, saying there were still many smaller drains opening into the river.
“The water can still enter from here, and these drains are all inter-linked.”
Ting said they would look into this in the next phase of the project.
He said another reason for the possible floods was the bursting of the river bank, adding water at such high tide could seep in from the land.
“This can only be totally solved when the bunds are built. At the mean time, the residents will still have to put up with floods, but definitely with fewer ones.”
Ting considered the completion of the flood gates is an initial step to the success of the flood mitigation plan in Sibu.