KULAI: More than 100 flood hotspots have been identified in all 16 local council areas in Johor, many of them in the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) area, says state exco member Datuk Mohd Jafni Md Shukor.
The housing and local government committee chairman said the state government and MBJB are looking into building a new flood wall equipped with a pump system to drain floodwater into the sea.
“If we look at this morning (yesterday) alone, the heavy rainfall did not even last for two hours, but the road along Wisma Persekutuan was flooded.
“So, as a temporary measure, (we encourage) those who park their cars around the area to move them away on rainy days.
“Of the 106 hotspots (identified) in the state, 36 are in the MBJB area,” he said after a ceremony to hand over aid for diploma and degree students from local educational institutions at Dewan Serbaguna Taman Puteri here.
He said yesterday’s flash flood was due to the combination of heavy rainfall and high tide which prevented water from flowing into the sea.
“One of the long-term solutions is to build a flood wall that will prevent rising seawater from flowing into water outlets and a pump system to simultaneously drain rainwater into the sea.
“The short-term solution is to clean every monsoon drain regularly and ensure that they are not blocked by garbage,” he said, adding that this is the common cause of flash floods on the roads.
Mohd Jafni also said the state government will be looking at upgrading old monsoon drains to make sure they can channel large amounts of rainwater into rivers or the sea.
“Some of the culverts or monsoon drains were built 20 years ago and have not been upgraded to meet the current (situation).
“There is a need to set up a special task force for this – not only to identify the old drainage systems (in need of upgrading) but also to ensure that every new project or development had an adequate water drainage system that can be sustainable,” he said.
MBJB had a mix of old and new buildings and housing areas along with high-rises in the city, all of which required a proper drainage system, he said.
The state government has prepared a few short-, middle- and long-term solutions to address the issues of flooding in the city, he added.
“Any issues that involve a small budget can be dealt with immediately, but long-term solutions might take some time to be implemented as it would involve millions of allocation from the government,” said Mohd Jafni.
Meanwhile Mohd Jafni, who is also Yayasan Sejahtera Kulai chairman, said 33 students from Kulai received a total of RM22,000 in financial assistance for their studies yesterday.