Flood of money

The Malaysian government is coming up with another big plan to resolve a perennial problem in the southern state of Johor -- flooding. This time, a staggering sum of RM6 billion has been set aside to come up with a comprehensive flood mitigation system.

According to the abridged Bernama report below, the money will be used for digging of drains, deepening of rivers, repair of river banks, building of river bunds, and repair of bridges and estate roads.

It sounds like a lot of money for fancy longkangs and riverbanks. The amount of RM6 billion is more expensive than even the high-tech flood mitigation Smart tunnel system in KL, is equivalent to the cost of building the sprawling LRT network in the Malaysian capital and six times more expensive than the aborted plan to build an overhead bridge to replace the ageing causeway.

Somehow, I suspect that the latest plan, if it is ever implemented, will not be comprehensive enough to resolve the flooding woes in the state. They are still not tackling one serious problem -- cleaning up the clogged and dirty Straits of Johor separating Malaysia and Singapore -- as part of the so-called comprehensive flood mitigation system.

Johor to get $2.6b flood-control system

JOHOR BARU - JOHOR is to have a comprehensive flood mitigation system estimated to cost RM6 billion (S$2.6 billion).

The government has appointed consultants to carry out a study on the measures needed. The project aims to prevent a recurrence of the big floods that hit the state late last year and early this year. More than 100,000 people had to be evacuated and 17 lives were lost during the floods, which were the worst in 100 years.

The local consultants will conduct studies on the six main river basins in Johor before submitting a comprehensive plan for each of the areas. The basins are at Sungai Batu Pahat, Sungai Mersing, Sungai Muar, Sungai Johor, Kluang town and rivers in the Iskandar Development Region.

Updated: UnSmart flood

Sigh, another flash flood happened in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur, which is aptly known as muddy estuary in Malay. Dad has lost track the number of times KL has been submerged in muddy water, as shown in the pix today from The Star photo gallery.

Mom was caught in a massive traffic jam due to a flash flood last week in the heart of KL, while grandma's car was once submerged in water near Shah Alam more than five years ago.

The immediate thing that came to dad's mind is the RM1.93 billion project known as Smart (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel). Has the stormwater tunnel come into effect to help divert flood water in the Malaysian capital? According to project developers MMC-Gamuda, the three-tier tunnel will act as a motorway and a bypass channel for floodwater at the confluence of the Klang and Ampang rivers into a storage reservoir in Taman Desa, before being discharged into Kerayong river.

The Star and New Straits Times didn't mention the Smart project although the 3-km motorway portion opened to the public last month. According to MMC-Gamuda, the final phase of the Smart project will be the official opening of the 9.7-km stormwater tunnel targeted in June 2007 (It's already June 11).

Dad used a stretch of the tunnel when he was driving back from KL back to Singapore last week. He even made a U-turn when he first overshot the tunnel entrance so that he could experience it for the first time. The one-month trial run was still free when dad used it.

Dad now has a lingering feeling that the priority seems to be the opening of the tolled motorway, instead of completing the stormwater tunnel as soon as possible to help drain perennial flood water from the muddy estuary.

Update: The Malaysian government is upset over the tardiness in the completion of the stormwater tunnel portion of the project. But it doesn't change dad's view that the developers seem to be more concerned about the opening of the tolled motorway, instead of completing the stormwater tunnel as soon as possible.

Barking up the Wrong Tree

It's not fair for Johor's chief minister Ghani Othman and Malay newspapers in Malaysia to suggest that the massive flooding at the southern town of Kota Tinggi was partly due to Singapore's reclamation works.

He reportedly said that the land reclamation has narrowed the river mouth of Sungai Johor, causing the massive destruction in Kota Tinggi. He was cited by New Straits Times as saying that the narrowing of the river mouth had slowed the discharge of excess rain water into the Johor Straits (infographics from NST).

Singapore's strong response was swift like the flash floods. But the Singapore government merely rebutted the allegation, without giving any reason for the flood due possibly to diplomatic reasons.

The primary reason that caused Sungei Johor to overflow must have been the state of the river itself. It's no secret that rivers in the state are heavily polluted and clogged, making them incapable to discharge sudden surge in rain water efficiently into the open seas, with or without reclamation works by Singapore.

In fact, the five rivers in the state are the main cause of pollutants and toxic discharge into the stale Straits of Johor -- the narrow strip of water separating Malaysia and Singapore. The pollution in the straits is compounded by the land-based causeway, which blocks the natural flow of water in the straits.

Building an overhead bridge to replace the causeway will help water circulate more freely in the straits. But Malaysia and Johor must first step up efforts to clean up the rivers and relocate industries and squatters along the dirty rivers, instead of pointing the finger at its southern neighbour.