Aerial view shows the flooded neighbourhood of Taman Sri Muda in Shah Alam, which is one of the worst hit areas in Selangor state, Malaysia, December 21, 2021. The Selangor government has denied the allegations that the construction project near the sluice gate in Taman Sri Muda in Section 25 was the cause of severe floods in the area. — Reuters pic
SHAH ALAM, Dec 29 — The Selangor government has denied the allegations that the construction project near the sluice gate in Taman Sri Muda in Section 25 here was the cause of severe floods in the area.
“It has nothing to do with it. The planning permission was obtained in 2015 and the building plan was approved in 2017, which means that everything that were requested had complied with the conditions set including in terms of the buffer area and underground detention pond,” state Infrastructure and Agriculture exco Izham Hashim told reporters in Taman Sri Muda today.
He was commenting on a viral video of a woman alleging that the construction project was the cause of the floods in the area.
Izham said as mentioned before, the floods were due to an unusual amount of rainfall and the high tide phenomenon.
“Taman Sri Muda is located in a low-lying area and when the high tide phenomenon occurred and there is backflow, we need to close the gate, if not the water from Sungai Rasau and Sungai Klang will flow into this area.
“When we close the gate, we would use the pumps but during the recent floods, all the power substations were submerged in floodwaters and the electricity supply was cut off. The two locations to pump water out were also affected and we had to do it manually,” he explained.
Izham said the state government has taken an immediate measure to build another sluice gate in Taman Sri Muda with a pumping capacity of 5,100 litres per second which is expected to be completed within a year.
The state government would also identify areas to build more reservoirs and increase pump capacity to address flood problems in the state, he said. — Bernama