THE highly-anticipated Sungai Pinang flood mitigation project in Penang will finally see its physical works begin early next year, the Penang government said.
The physical works which fall under Phase One involve two rivers, namely, Sungai Pinang and Sungai Jelutong; and the works comprise Sungai Pinang river improvement, river corridor improvement as well as beautifying and upgrading of the pedestrian bridge.
Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow earlier said the state Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) and other relevant agencies have completed the Value Engineering Lab session to finalise the design of the project.
“The session was completed at the end of June this year, and I understand the project is now ready to be open for tender.
“The rest of the information will be announced in due time by the state DID,” Chow said during a brief press conference at Masjid Acheh, Kebun Lama in Datuk Keramat today.
Meanwhile, state Local Government, Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said the flood mitigation project also includes the transition between Sungai Air Itam and Sungai Air Terjun, Sungai Jelutong flood wall, new Jelutong diversion at Jalan Tan Sri Teh Ewe Lim and Jalan Ahmad Nor, and other mechanical and electrical associated works.
“As we all know, the Federal Government had previously approved RM150 million (out of the RM650 million) under the first rolling plan of the 12th Malaysia Plan for the year 2021 for this project.
“But due to unavoidable issues and technical errors, the physical works were postponed several times.
“This is a very important project that has been there for a very long time, and we sincerely hope that the Federal Government will prioritise this initiative and complete it within the given time frame this time,” Jagdeep said.
Separately, Chow said the state government, since 2017, had approved a special allocation of RM150 million to implement eight high-impact flood mitigation projects, both on the island and mainland.
“So far, five out of the eight have successfully been completed, while the other three are in various stages of completion,” Chow added.
Also present was Jelutong MP R.S.N. Rayer.
Meanwhile, another flood mitigation project in Solok Van Praagh, Batu Lanchang, has been progressing well, with 2% ahead of its schedule.
The project is to build a 2,200m2-wide underground retention pond with a depth of 2.6m and a reservoir volume of 5,175m3 to minimise the magnitude and flood frequency in the area.
Chow, who visited the project site today, was told that the progress of the state project was now at 6%.
“The project is scheduled to be completed by May 31, 2024.
“The estimated cost of the project is RM5.718 million,” Chow said. The project is being implemented by the state DID.
Also present were Rayer and Batu Lancang assemblyman Ong Ah Teong.
The visits were part of the ‘Jelajah ❤️ Penang’ programme in Jelutong today.
Story by Kevin Vimal and Christopher Tan
Pix by Siew Chia En and Adleena Rahayu Ahmad Radzi
Video by Alissala Thian and Darwina Mohd Daud