Need to find permanent solutions to the on going constant flooding in Ipoh

Need to find permanent solutions to the on going constant flooding in Ipoh

A dialogue session was organized by the Ipoh City Council yesterday at one of the worst affected flood( 20/2/12) areas in Lim Gardens Ipoh.

Local residents had gathered at the “Rukun Tetangga Center” to have a dialogue with Local Council officers and the Mayor.

The Mayor had promised to meet the residents but failed to turn up. He had instead sent the Secretary of the Local Council Dato Rahim to represent him.

After the usual breakfast, the meeting started at 10am. Dato Daniel, the local councillor present, said that he had visited the area a number of times to address the local issues.Dato Rahim said he was present to hear the residents’ grouses.

Among the issues raised by the residents were:- 1) the pump was not in working order. Drains are clogged and they are too small and need to be rebuilt to allow faster water flow 2) Whether the pumps will solve the flood issue.

The pump was apparently not functioning for over the last 10 months. This issue was not addressed. Due to the flood, many of the retention walls are on the verge of collapse. Many of the drains have given way and are sinking.

Rahim said that excessive rain was the main cause of the flood and the pump to drain water into the river was not functioning.

Council engineer Mustapha said he was aware of the short comings and conceded that the main pump failed to function due to short circuit problem. He also said that the water retention pond near Taman Merdeka will be ready by early November2012.

In my earlier statement on this issue, I had said that the main causes of the flood were:- - the pumps to drain water from the housing schemes were not functioning as most of the houses were on low grounds and below the river level - there was too much silting due to the failure to dredge and deepen the river - logging and indiscriminate removal of vegetation upstream has resulted in rain water pouring direct onto the river

At yesterday’s meeting, I suggested that there should be a follow up meeting on matters raised. After some deliberation, it was agreed that a meeting will be held at 9 am on March 17 to further thrash out any hiccups and resolve all issues raised.

It would have been better if the Council had regular meetings with the residents and address the local issues before they became serious. The floods had resulted in damage of properties. Residents wanted the Council to fully or at least partially compensate them but the Council said that it did not have such allocation.

The residents’ request for compensation was fair as it was the negligence of the Council which had resulted in the floods that caused their properties to be damaged. The Council should therefore provide compensation to the residents.