SHAH ALAM, 18 Dec: The Selangor Government has ordered the Land and Mines Office to cooperate with the relevant land offices to acquire suitable land for the river widening project to avoid flooding in the state.
Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Khalid Ibrahim, said that the State Government has identified that the cause of flash floods in some areas are due to improper irrigation system and the lack of the river width.
He said that efforts to widen the river are difficult to carry out because there are settlements and land near the river reserve which has been given ownership.
“The Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) have been directed to identify suitable areas across Selangor to be made into water retention ponds.
“This land will be acquired by the State Government if necessary because this effort is in the interests and for the security of the people,” said Abdul Khalid in a press statement after the State Government Executive Council Meeting.
Abdul Khalid said that the DID has been asked to enter this directive as an important agenda in Flood Mitigation Plans across Selangor which was formulates and is being implemented by the DID under the 10th Malaysia Plan (10MP).
He said that for the 10MP, from 2011-2015, the DID had applied for RM774.6 million under the Stormwater Management and Drainage Upgrading Programme, with RM93 million approved by the Federal Government and RM567 from the State Government.
“Through meetings with the DID in the past week, the DID informed that in the 10MP, 246 flood mitigation projects have been planned, with 79 in the pipeline, 88 on schedule and 31 completer,” said Abdul Khalid.
