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| Its here... Chong showing the report |
The Barrage is part of the reasons why Kuching is flooded, said State Assemblyman for Sentosa, Chong Chieng Jen.
Chong in a press conference today said the State government
is telling half truth about the barrage.
He said when the barrage was constructed in 1997, there was
a flood mitigation plan which is part of the whole package in a report done by
Rendel, Palmer and Triton, a British company.
Chong said the government took their chance and did not
construct the Flood Mitigation plan so in 2003 and 2004, after three days of
rain, Kuching city was flooded all over.
“In the first place, two tributaries of Sarawak rivers
channel the flood water away but due to the construction of the causeway, the
two outlets were blocked. Playing with nature is never wise and that was when
the flood came,” he said.
He added that initially, they were not interested to know
why the State government was in such a hurry to build the barrage and causeway
and later found that the top leader’s family owned a huge parcel of land in Isthmus.
He said at the end of the day, it was still for the family’s sake.
Chong said due to the frequent flood, the State
government
is forced to start a flood mitigation project in Salak and Paroh. "We
will wait and see if the flood mitigation project works or not," he
added.
