A silver bullet to end Kelantan’s flood woes?
The writer, citing first hand experience, thinks the answer lies in dredging sand from the mouth of the Kelantan river.
Koon Yew Yin, Free Malaysia Today
Like all Malaysians, much of my attention during the past week has centered on the news of the flood devastation that has occurred in the country, especially in Kelantan.
While I also share the concern of many others as to whether our political leaders and authorities have been on top of their game or have bungled in their disorganized efforts at providing relief, the main focus of my scrutiny has been on whether any practical mitigation measure can be undertaken to minimize the impact of this almost annual climatic phenomenon which has caused so much suffering and socio-economic loss.
In looking for an answer, I believe I am better qualified than most people in the country in view of my long experience as an engineer who has been involved in various major water-related projects such as the Muda Irrigation scheme since the 1960’s.
Of special relevance was my company’s undertaking, about 30 years ago, of the contract to fill up the Kelantan Medical University site, which is a few kilometres upstream of Kota Baru/Sungai Kelantan. In dredging sand from the river, I noted that the few hundred thousand cubic meters we dredged were soon refilled by the constant new inflow of sand.
From this, It is clear to me that one of the major causes of the annual flooding is the accumulation of sand at the mouth of Sungai Kelantan, which is more than 10 kilometres from Kota Baru, and that an enormous quantity of sand amounting to perhaps several hundred millions of cubic metres, must be taken out to mitigate flooding.
But how can this be done in a cost effective way?
The answer lies in another project which my company obtained at the same time to dredge sand from Sungei Tiram in Johor for export to Singapore. The sand from the river was used to create the beach at Sentosa Resort in Singapore. In the process we not only cleared that particular Malaysian river and solved its flooding problem but we also generated jobs and income from the revenue received from Singapore. This was a win-win situation for our two nations.
Although I was one of the founders of Mudajaya and IJM Corporation, I am now no longer associated with these companies nor have I any business interest in the construction industry. However I will support dredging of the sand resources of Sungai Kelantan, subject to various environmental safeguards, to alleviate the flooding.
Shortly after his return to Malaysia from his overseas trip, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced an allocation of RM500 million to help the flood victims cope with the disaster. Kota Bharu floods every year and very often the government allocates hundreds of millions of ringgit to help the flood victims. All this money is not solving the flooding problem. We must find a way to mitigate the flooding.
Various cynics have suggested that the Prime Minister may be playing politics with the funding allocation meant for use in Kelantan. It is said that he may be tempted to gain political capital from it in the hope of using the fund to sway voters towards BN. Although this political angle to flood relief funding cannot be discounted, I do not believe that the Prime Minister will choose to play such crude politics. Perhaps his subordinates may want to do so. But I think that in this particular crisis, he will know that the eyes of the nation are on him and that he will need to come up with the best programme possible that will bring not only short term relief but also a long term positive impact.
