HONG Seng Estate residents can now heave a huge sigh of relief following the recent completion of a flood mitigation project in the area.
Pulau Tikus assemblyman Chris Lee Chun Kit said the state government and the Penang Island City Council (MBPP) worked very closely to resolve the perennial flood issues by laying an underground bypass for water from the uphill stream and rainwater to flow out of the area there.
“Each time when it rained previously, we would have headache because we could expect the area to be flooded,” Lee said during an interview.
“But since the bypass was built at the end of last year and completed a few months ago, we have not encountered any flood woes.”
He said with the cooperation from the Kebun Bunga ADUN’s office, they managed to get the help of MBPP to tackle the problem.
As the private estate was established many years ago, most the 800 over houses were built there without proper control. Even many of the paved roads between the rows of houses are too narrow for opposing cars to pass by.
Some of the houses were then built on top of a makeshift underwater tunnel that had covered the natural stream.
Lee said after years of erosion of the underwater tunnel, the foundation of these houses gave way and a few houses collapsed in 2017. This resulted in the collapsed material blocking the waterway and thus the area was flooded when it rained.
To solve the problem, the state government together with MBPP installed water pumps but the pumps were overwhelmed by downpours. When this happened, floods occurred and damaged the houses.
Furthermore, the residents were affected as the roads were impassable until the floodwaters receded.
Lee said he was delighted that MBPP finally got the underground bypass project going, giving the residents a peace of mind even if it rains heavily.
Story by K.H. Ong
Pix by Tan Zhi En