IPOH: Leave for officers in both the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and Public Works Department (JKR) will be frozen until the end of December in view of the coming monsoon season, says Perak exco member Datuk Seri Mohammad Nizar Jamaluddin.
The infrastructure, energy, water and public transportation committee chairman said district engineers from the respective departments have been told to monitor disaster-prone rivers, roads and slopes.
He said the frequency of monitoring water sources and catchment areas, as well as slopes and flash-flood hotspots, has also been increased by both departments.
“I have instructed district officers to immediately alert DID if any river bursts its banks.
“Remedial action will be taken immediately in the event of any unexpected incident caused by strong winds or heavy downpour.
“DID has identified a total of 139 hotspot areas in Perak for possible flash floods, overflow of rivers, and so forth,” he said.
Mohammad Nizar added that teams from JKR were also monitoring slopes from Simpang Pulai to Blue Valley heading to Cameron Highlands, and at the Gerik-Jeli road, on a daily basis.
He said both the departments were also in constant communication with Tenaga Nasional Berhad and the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).
“DID especially needs to constantly get information from TNB on the amount of water being released from the Temenggor Dam, for example.
“We have put numerous measures in place to face the coming monsoon,” he added.
