Najib allocates RM564m for Pekan flood project

The government has set aside RM564 million for Phase 2 of the Bandar Pekan Flood Mitigation Project (RTB) to address the flood problem which has been plaguing residents there since the 1920s.

Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said the project, implemented since end of 2014, would benefit more than 83,000 people in an area covering 6,200ha.

“This project will complement Phase 1 of the RTB project, which had been implemented at a cost of RM221 million. It will overcome a problem which the Pekan residents have been facing for decades.

“Now that we have announced the project, let there not be people saying that we are giving dedak (animal feed).

“We are a government that is fair to all states, in fact, Kelantan also gets an allocation of RM800 million to address the (flood) problem,” he said.

He said this in his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for Phase 2 of the flood mitigation project in Pekan today.

Also present were Pahang Menteri Besar Adnan Yaakob, Natural Resources and Environment Minister Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar (photo) and his deputy, Hamim Samuri, as well as Drainage and Irrigation director-general Md Nasir Md Noh.

Implementation of Phase 2 of the project involves three parcels, with work on the first parcel having started end of 2014 and scheduled to be completed in May this year. It involves the royal town of Pekan in an area covering 2,600ha.

Work on parcel two started in July last year and expected to be ready in May 2020 at a cost of RM108.6 million, covering an area of 1,500 hectares, while parcel three covers 2,100 hectares to protect the agriculture areas Sungai Miang and Durian Sebatang against flood.

The project scope of the second phase of the flood mitigation project, among others, involves construction of earth levee, river levee and flood wall, upgrading of Batu Balik road and construction of flood gates and pump houses.

It is aimed at addressing the flood problem in Pekan town and the surrounding areas, as well as Perkampungan Sungai Miang in the south, Pulau Keladi in the west and Perkampungan Pasir Panjang in the east should water from Sungai Pahang overflows its banks.

- Bernama