State to divert flood waters to sea through canal, build another barrage to keep out seawater during high tide
Morshidi pointing to the big difference between the water levels at the barrage at 6pm yesterday. On his left is Zaki and on his right is Jinep.
The reading at the barrage at 6pm yesterday showed the reading at 10.8 metre.
Morshidi sharing the photo on his hand phone with Jinep (second right) and Zaki (left) which some irresponsible people have circulated in the social media which showed Kuching flooded.
KUCHING: The state government plans to build a canal from Kpg Paroh along the Sarawak River to the sea to divert flood waters from the upper reaches of the river from flooding the city.
For the diversion canal to be effective a barrage will be built at its lower end to prevent seawater from flowing in during high tide.
State Secretary Tan Sri Datuk Amar Mohd Morshidi Abdul Ghani revealed that the state government had acquired the land at Paroh for the construction of the canal and its barrage would complement the flood mitigation function of Kuching Barrage.
“Since the Kuching barrage is doing wonders in mitigating flood, the government feels that we should have another barrage to mitigate flood at the other side of the city,” Morshidi told The Borneo Post during a site visit to the barrage yesterday.
As the project would be a massive undertaking, the state government was still working on its mechanism and Morshidi predicted that it would take a while before the project could be implemented.
“We have already acquired the land but it has to be planned properly. It is not a ‘10-dollar’ project but a multi-million-dollar one. So, detailed planning must be done first.”
On a related issue, Morshidi revealed that some 50,000 civil servants from both the state and the federal agencies had been deployed for the ongoing relief and rescue operations since the beginning of the incessant rain which has caused flooding in low-lying areas throughout the state.
“Throughout the state, there are easily 50,000 civil servants on the ground helping in relief and rescue operations,” he said.
He thanked these civil servants and lauded them for their efforts in assisting flood victims.
“We are anticipating some hiccups here and there due to, for example, inaccessibility of roads which finally was overcome. And in between, there might be a delay of food delivery for half-an-hour which I think is not really major,” said Morshidi.
The state secretary chided those who uploaded old photographs of floods in Kuching to mislead viewers that the city was flooded.
“So my visit here is to see for myself that the barrage has been effective in preventing Kuching from getting flooded. I hope these irresponsible people will stop circulating the photos as they could confuse the people especially in the peninsula,” added Morshidi.
Also present during the visit were Eastern Region Command Commander Lt General Datuk Mohd Zaki Mokhtar and Sarawak Rivers’ Board (SRB) controller William Jinep.
In explaining the barrage’s effectiveness in preventing flood in the city ,Jinep said at the height of the king tide yesterday at 6 pm, the sea water level reached 10.8 metres at the barrage when all the six gates were closed to prevent the sea water from flooding low- lying areas in Kuching. But at the upstream side of the barrage the water level was at least four metres lower.
“If there is no barrage, most parts of the city such as the old courthouse, Kuching Waterfront and the Main Bazaar would have been inundated by at least by one metre by now,” added Jinep.
Meanwhile, as flood waters continue to recede in most parts of the state, more than 1,000 families breathed a sigh of relief as they were allowed to return to their respective homes after seeking shelter at flood evacuation centres for the past few days.
A spokesperson from the state National Security Council operations room confirmed that 6,294 flood victims from 1,437 families had returned home as at 8pm yesterday while the number of active flood evacuation centres in Sarawak had also gone down to 37.
Kuching has 20 evacuation centres providing shelter for 3,373 people from 668 families followed by 11 evacuation centres in Samarahan which house 1,598 victims from 420 families.
The five evacuation centres in Limbang are still active accomodating 1,244 people from 357 families whereas an evacuation centre in Mukah provided shelter for 34 victims from 10 families.