KUCHING, MAY 25: Twenty-one new hydrological stations will be set up while 67 existing ones will be upgraded with the cost of RM8.97 million.
The projects implemented under the national Hydrological Network Programme are scheduled to be completed by July this year.
“For a sustainable water resource planning in the state, the expansion of hydrological network is to carry out water balance study as well as to establish flood forecasting and warning system.
“A Water Balance Study for Sungai Similajau Basin in Bintulu is currently ongoing and is expected to be completed in September this year. The findings of the study will be used to develop a Water Resources Management and Decision Management Support System (DMSS),” said Deputy Premier, Dato Sri Dr. Sim Kui Hian during in his winding speech at the State Legislative Assembly (DUN) sitting.
Additionally, a flood forecasting and warning system for Sungai Sarawak and Batang Rejang with a project cost of RM34.2 million is currently under detailed design and the tendering process is expected to be called soon.
On state funded projects for urban drainage and flood mitigation, Sim who is also the Minister of Housing and Local Government said that the state government has allocated a total of RM14.7 million for the implementation of numerous flood mitigation and drainage improvement projects this year.
He said out of this, RM7.5 million is for three urban drainage improvement projects and one hydrography survey work.
“One of the drainage improvement works is at Kampung Jeriah Sibu (Phase 2) which is expected to complete by middle of November this year. The other two drainage improvement works are in Kubong, Limbang, and Kota Samarahan – Phase 1 (Taman Desa Ilmu) and both are currently in a design stage.
“The survey job consists of 370 kilometers hydrography works of Batang Rajang and Batang Igan from its riverbank to Kapit and Pelagus.
“This project is to carry out hydrography survey to determine the severity of sedimentation problems in Batang Rejang and Batang Igan. Currently, it is in consultancy appointment stage,” he added.
He also shared in the August House that the remaining RM7.2 million is for five flood mitigation projects which include RTB Sibu (Phase 4), RTB Bintulu (Phase 2), RTB Miri (Phase 2), RTB Sungai Semariang, and drainage improvement works at Jalan Datuk Amar Kalong Ningkan and Jalan Datuk Tawi Sli.
“All the four RTB projects are 28 currently under the consultancy appointment stage. The drainage improvement project is under the detailed design stage,” he noted.
Since 2018, Dr Sim disclosed that RM515 million has been allocated for the implementation of 127 Projek Rakyat of which RM34 million is made available in 2022 for 50 projects with 23 are currently under construction and the remaining are under the design stage.
“Under the RTP, for 2021 a sum of RM78 million have been allocated to implement 497 projects in various divisions. Out of this, 316 have been completed.
“The remaining 181 are in various stages of implementation. In 2022, 537 projects with a total cost of RM89 million were approved and are currently under various stages of implementation,” he added.
