Authorities urged to expedite completion of Sungai Belat flood mitigation project

The RM100 million project which started in Jan 2018 and should have been completed last year was delayed several times. It is now expected to be ready by this November.

A resident of Kampung Gudang Rasau here, Hamdan Yusof, 54, said he could not bear going through another flood disaster because the compensation received after each disaster could hardly cover the losses incurred and cleaning up the mess after the flood required a lot of time and effort.

"This project started almost five years ago and since then we have gone through numerous flood incidents but until now there is no news when it will be operational.

"The flood earlier this year was the worst. For the first time, the water rose up to chest level. Based on past experience the water will not go beyond thigh level so most of our belongings were destroyed, " he told Bernama here today.

Hamdan, who is self-employed said most of the residents there live in their own houses so they were reluctant to move to other locations.

Meanwhile a Taman Guru resident, Ahmad Fazdheim Sharafidz, 35, said he and his family were always living in fear each time it rains especially at year end and hoped that the RTB would be operational soon as this is already the second week of November.

"In the past, this area was considered a prime location but now the value of houses has gone down due to the floods. I really hope that the project can be completed soon to give residents here some peace of mind," he said.

Another resident Azmadi Hussin, 41, who has been living here for the past 19 years said the authorities should make the project a priority and closely monitor its implementation so that there are no more delays.

He said the floods were more frequent now and the worst occurred last December and January because despite the preparations made, his household items were destroyed when the water rose sharply.

The project delay has also caught the attention of Pakatan Harapan's Kuantan parliamentary candidate Fuziah Salleh who hoped that the project could be completed soon for the safety of the people around Sungai Belat.

There are 87,597 registered electors in the Kuantan Parliamentary constituency, 30,854 of whom are Teruntum constituents, Tanjung Lumpur (38,185) and Inderapura (18,558).

Polling is on Saturday (Nov 19).