By Karen Bong
KUCHING, March 2: The Ministry of Public Health, Housing and Local Government is looking to turn a park near Pine Square in MJC, Batu Kawah here into an anti-flood park with a sunken basin that could hold and redirect a huge volume of rainwater, especially during cloudbursts, to avert flooding in the area.
Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian said he will get the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) Sarawak to look into the idea of developing the park with a catchment basin to deal with heavy downpours that could lead to flooding and overwhelm drainage systems in the city.
“In Copenhagen, the local council converted small green spaces in housing or commercial areas into ‘sunken’ green spaces so that an excessive amount of water can be retained instead of running off into streets, concrete pavements or roads that often lead to flash flooding.
“We will look into how to make use of the MJC-Pine Square park (and turn it) into a ‘sunken’ park which could be used as a retention pond when excessive amounts of rain and river water gets high,” he said in a post on his social media today.
Dr Sim, who is also Batu Kawah assemblyman, had just returned from a study visit in the Netherlands to gain insights into the country’s expertise on water management techniques and technologies in flood prevention and protection.
In Amsterdam, he shared that the canal is used not only as a tourist attraction but also to retain excessive amounts of water with the bottom of the canal made up of peat soil (earth drain) to hold water.
“We used to construct big monsoon drains but in Singapore, the country has knocked down the concrete to create natural streams and rivers.
“As such, we need to create room for water by utilising or creating more parks so that water can be absorbed by the ground rather than having to be diverted into the storm drains and the drainage system,” he elaborated.
With flood mitigation a priority of the government, Dr Sim emphasised that he will also request for additional funding under 12th Malaysia Plan during the mid-term review from Premier of Sarawak Datuk Patinggi Tan Sri Abang Johari Tun openg.
“The current Batu Kawah flood mitigation and drainage upgrading project costing RM140 million is insufficient with the rising cost of materials post Covid-19,” he added.
Noting that funding for flood mitigation is under the concurrent list, Dr Sim hopes Sarawak parliamentarians and the unity government will also allocate funding from the Federal budget to assist in accelerating flood prevention efforts and upgrading of drainage systems in Batu Kawah. — DayakDaily
