Sungai Rinting used to overflow and flood part of Pasir Gudang Highway but the river was recently deepened. ― Filepic
SUNGAI Plentong should be deepened to address frequent floods in the area, says Permas assemblyman Baharudin Mohamed Taib.
When the river overflows, it floods Kampung Seri Bahagia, Kampung Rumah 10 and Kampung Plentong Baru, he said.
“Steps should be taken and improvements made so that these areas would not be flood-prone every time it rains.
“The other hotspots in Pasir Gudang are Sungai Masai and Sungai Rinting, but since the local council and the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) deepened the rivers last year, these areas do not get flooded,” he said when contacted.
He said that flooding in Taman Rinting, next to the Pasir Gudang Highway, had occurred a few times last year.
“Many cars broke down on the highway because of this.”
Baharudin said he was present at a meeting held by DID Johor Baru, which was attended by Johor tourism, environment, heritage and culture committee chairman K. Raven Kumar, aimed at finding solutions to flooding in Pasir Gudang.
“Some of the other flood-prone areas in Pasir Gudang are Kampung Sungai Rinting D, Masai, Belantik, Taman Saujana and Kampung Bendahara.
“The meeting also discussed emergency and flood simulation drills between agencies, including the district office and NGOs,” he added.
On a separate matter, Baharudin said the state government had approved RM1.2mil to fix the intersection at Pasir Gudang Stadium, which is riddled with potholes.
“The works are quite expensive because this time they are using cement so hopefully it will resolve the pothole issues there.
“The road condition is also bad because it is the main route for large vehicles heading towards Johor Baru and the Pasir Gudang industrial area,” he said, adding that works had begun and should be completed this year.
Johor works, transportation and infrastructure committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the Federal Government had approved RM3.8mil to upgrade Pasir Gudang Highway.
“The highway was built for a load capacity of 30 tonnes, but some vehicles that use the road are more than 60 tonnes.
“There are no weighing bridges on the highway, so it is hard to conduct enforcement in the area.
“Some of the damage and potholes are caused by drivers of large lorries who park their vehicles by the roadside.
“We usually repair roads using the milling and paving technique.
“But this time we will be using the cold in-place recycling method,” he said, adding that the repaired road should last longer as the mixture contains 5% cement.
