Contractor to be appointed for flood mitigation project in Penang

The Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) will be appointing a contractor soon to carry out a RM10 million flood mitigation project at Teluk Kumbar near George Town.

Bernama was made to understand that the construction of the project was expected to take 24 months starting from the date of the contractor’s appointment.

The main scope of the RM10-million project involves a new pump house covering an area of 4,000 square metres with the capacity of 9,000 litres per second, as well as related works including fencing, the construction of new entrances and a Tenaga National Berhad (TNB) substation.

Senior assistant director in DID Penang Flood Management Division, G Yogendren, said the proposed pump house will be located at Sungai Teluk Kumbar opposite the 10-year-old damaged pump house which had the capacity of pumping 500 litres per second.

“The expected outcomes for the project are reducing 100 percent of the population (in 100 homes) affected by floods especially at Kampung Nelayan and Kampung Suluk, as well as to mitigate the risk of large floods to a minimum,” Yogendren said when briefing Deputy Minister of Water, Land and Natural Resources Tengku Zulpuri Shah Raja Puji during a site visit today.

According to him, the existing pump house in Teluk Kumbar will be decommissioned after the construction of the new pump house had been completed.

He said the existing pump house not only had insufficient capacity to cope with the flood from heavy rains, but also piles of rubbish were trapped in the inlet screen of the pump house which often disrupted its operation.

“The construction of the proposed pump house also involved the demolition of 16 buildings within the site,” he added.

The project was one of the three flood mitigation projects that state chief minister Chow Kon Yeow had applied from Putrajaya to implement through DID last November.

The other two flood mitigation projects are located in Pondok Upeh and Teluk Bahang, with an estimated cost of RM10 million and RM8 million respectively.

- Bernama