BEAUFORT: Efforts to mitigate flooding in several villages involving river maintenance projects continue in Lingkungan River here.
Lumadan Assemblyman Datuk Ruslan Muharam said the maintenance and deepening of Lingkungan for a distance of 1.7 km had started costing RM200,000.
According to him, the project started at the end of October and is expected to be fully completed by the end of November.
The project is expected also to reduce the risk of flooding in Kampung Lingkungan Laut and surrounding villages.
“This is phase three of the maintenance project which covers a distance of 3.5km was fully completed last October.
“In addition to being narrow, the Lingkungan River is also shallow and full of bushes preventing the flow of water out to the sea, causing water to stagnate.
“With the implementation of the project for these three phases, the risk of flooding in and around this area can be reduced, solving the longstanding problem faced by the residents,” he said during a survey of the maintenance works of Lingkungan and Bukau Rivers together with officials from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) on Monday.
Ruslan, who is also Assistant Minister to the Chief Minister, said the same project is also currently being actively implemented in Bukau River for a distance of 5.1km at a cost of RM220,000.
He said that the initiative is also a continuation of the same project being implemented in Api-Api River to reduce the effects of flooding in Kampung Bukau and nearby villages.
“The same situation also happened in Bukau River, which is shallow and full of bushes flooding Api-Api River and inundating Kampung Bukau for a year.
“Although now the flood water recedes quickly as a result of the maintenance in Api-Api River, this project in Bukau will ensure that it continues,” he said.
At the same time, Ruslan said, his party plans to implement the same project for phase five as far as 3.9 km in Api-Api River in the near future to ensure that the risk of flooding is completely resolved.
He said that the effort was a continuation of maintenance work on the same river involving phases one to four which were completed recently.
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