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Pulai MP visits Sg Segget site project

In the wake of the flash floods that hit the heart of Johor Baru on Nov 16, followed by another smaller flood on Nov 24, MP for Pulai, Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed, made a recent working visit to the Sungai Segget site project.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed [Right] asking questions during
a briefing by IRDA personnel, [L to R] Abd Halim Mohd Nor,
Mohd Zam Mustaman and Datuk Benjamin Hasbie
The RM240 million Sg Segget project, is one of the initiatives of Iskandar Regional Development Authority (IRDA) under the JB Transformation Programme that aims to sustain the city as the capital of Johor by providing economic activities, city living and amenities that are aligned with the vision of Majlis Bandaraya JB (MBJB) and Iskandar Malaysia.

At the IRDA Project Management Office (PMO), Nur Jazlan, who is also deputy home minister, was briefed on Phase 1 of the project, which is the construction of the Sungai Segget Water Treatment Plant at the confluence of the Sungai Segget and Sungai Molek and Phase 2, for Sg Segget flood mitigation and the beautification of Jalan Wong Ah Fook.

“As the principal coordinating agency responsible for the Sg Segget project, we feel responsible and are striving hard to alleviate the situation to minimize property damage and grief to businesses in the affected areas,” said IRDA Projects & PMO, Head, Mohd Zam Mustaman.

Abd Halim Mohd Nor [Right] briefing Datuk Nur Jazlan
Mohamed on Phase 2 of the project on Sg Segget which
runs parallel with Jalan Wong Ah Fook in JB
IRDA Projects & PMO Sr Vice President, Abd Halim Mohd Nor, explained the technical details about the Water Treatment Plant and said that construction which started in June 2013 is now 47.30% completed and scheduled for completion by June 2016.

Abd Halim announced that Phase 2 of the project which started in Jan 2014, is 54.10% completed now and due to be ready by June 2016.

He also clarified that Komtar JBCC is situated in a water sub-catchment area and more prone to flash floods due to its gradient.

While on-going upgrading work is in progress on the Sg Segget tidal gate, additional pumps and a generator are employed to help pump out excess water into the Johor Straits when necessary.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed also visited the Sg Segget
tidal gate which has been serving JB for decades
Nur Jazlan agreed that the land reclamation work in the Johor Straits may have also affected the tidal currents and created more sediments at the river mouth which inadvertently causes poorer drainage run-off from Sg Segget into the Straits.

When completed, the historical tidal gate will be upgraded to operate in tandem with an adjacent new pump sump and control house equipped with a SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) system that operates by automatic sensor response.

In the course of the project, IRDA discovered that there are no blueprints for Sg Segget even when they checked the records with utility agencies like Syarikat Telekoms and Tenaga Nasional.

Datuk Nur Jazlan Mohamed and IRDA personnel
updating the media at the press conference
“If JB aims to be an international city, it is unacceptable that the city does not have proper maps, plans and data on Sg Segget,” said Nur Jazlan who advised IRDA to work with MBJB to collect accurate data from the relevant agencies to be made available for better information and future reference.

As a result of continuous heavy rainfall that coincided with a super high tide that peaked at 3.5m at 1.47pm on Nov 16, Jalan Meldrum, Jalan Siu Nam, Jalan Siu Chin and Jalan Siu Koon, as well as the stretch between Komtar JBCC and Menara Public Bank along Jalan Wong Ah Fook, were inundated by flash floods of up to 0.75m in depth. 

After similar rainfall recorded between 85mm to 75mm that coincided with super high tide of 3.5m that peaked at 9.45am on Nov 24, only the stretch in front of Komtar JBCC was affected by flash floods that measured 0.3m high around 10.45am but the waters subsided quickly.

A version of this was published in The Malaysian Insider on 29 Nov 2015

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