PENAMPANG: The Natural Resources and Environment Ministry will implement a flood mitigation plan for the district, Penampang member of parliament Tan Sri Bernard Dompok said.
According to him, the plan was ready for the ministry to discuss with the local authorities as well as the preparation of allocation in the government budget.
Speaking to reporters at a gathering for the elderly and single mothers organised by Liberal Democratic Party (LPD) Moyog Division and the Penampang member of parliament office yesterday, Dompok said the flooding problem in his constituency was caused by many factors.
“Flooding occurs every time it rains heavily and this is a result of many factors, some of them are related to the drainage system and we have actually been discussing with the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry.
“I have brought the minister, Datuk Sri Douglas Uggah Embas, twice to Penampang to see what the solution is that can be brought about in order to alleviate the difficulties during the rainy season and they (the ministry) have certain proposals.
“A plan to look at the flooding problem in the Penampang district has been sent to the ministry and we are now waiting for action to be taken by them,” he said.
The Natural Resources and Environment Minister has an overall plan to look at the drainage, as well as water catchment issues in the district and also what to do with the water because in the Penampang area, there is also a lot of development on land brought about by property developers and this has resulted in land being utilized.
In the past, water would go to unused land in Penampang but now most of the land are being developed, Dompok said.“I think this has created the problem, so an overall development plan has been worked out by the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment and they will be working with the authorities inSabahto see how the drainage system can be improved,” he added.
He also disclosed that when he was in the state government, major big drains were put in place and this had reduced the flooding problem.
“But as more and more developments come up, occurrences of flooding will be there, so I hope with the plan proposed, some of the problems here can be elevated,” he said, adding that the plan was ready and all that was left to do now was for the implementation as well as refinement of the plan.
“From the formulated plans, I noticed that there may be some form of land acquisition involved so this has to be worked out by both the state and federal governments,” he said.
Touching on the flood-prone area of Minintod, Dompok agreed that the water flow from the drains in the area toMoyogRivermust be improved so that the problem could be resolved.
“The big problem here is that the Babaig-Minintod area is in low-lying ground, so every time it rains heavily, the back flow from the swollenMoyogRiverwill go into the drains here causing them to overflow, and flooding occurs.
“This has been looked at by the experts appointed by the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry and I am waiting for the finalization of the plan,” he said.