Precast culverts and rings lying abandoned around the pond while the grass has not been cut for a long time.
TWO months after the Federal Government cancelled the alienation of Bohol flood retention pond in Kuala Lumpur for development, Seputeh MP Teresa Kok is urging the authorities to come up with a comprehensive plan for it.
She wants the pond to be upgraded and properly maintained so it can become fully functional again.
The Bohol pond has been neglected for more than two years.
When StarMetro visited the site, the area was in a dismal state.
Precast culverts were abandoned at the site and overgrown grass showed that the area had not been maintained for a long time.
Some of the flood walls leading into the pond were falling apart.
During a monthly meeting with Kuala Lumpur mayor Datuk Kamarulzaman Mat Salleh, Kok suggested setting up a task force comprising Kuala Lumpur City Hall, Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID), Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur Land and Mines Office (PTGWP), and her office.
“The task force can carry out upgrading and maintenance work on the pond and its surroundings.
“I was made to understand that the maintenance of the pond was under DID and that it was supposedly given RM300mil to upgrade the pond,” she said.
Bohol flood retention pond in Kuala Lumpur is choked with sediment and rubbish.
Kok said during a recent visit to the pond, she noticed its inlet and outlet were in need of widening, and it also had to be deepened so it could contain huge volumes of rainwater.
“It seems that no one is taking accountability for the multiple flash floods in the area,” she said.
Kok reiterated her opposition to any plans to develop the site.
“The area is already fully developed. Bohol pond borders Selangor and I was told that Subang Jaya City Council is not in favour of any development,” she added.
The pond spanning 37.8ha (equivalent to 63 football fields) came under the spotlight when whistle-blowers told StarMetro there were plans to alienate land surrounding the pond for a housing project.
Following public objections, the government cancelled the proposed alienation as the developer failed to fulfil key technical requirements.
After floods on Dec 18, 2021, and March 7, 2022, residents in the Kinrara area raised concerns about the impact of development there.
The March 7 flood saw water from the Sungai Kuyoh/Bohol pond breaking through the perimeter fencing of a monsoon drain in Jalan TK 2/9, resulting in knee-high water in Taman Kinrara 1 and 2.
The Shah Alam Expressway (Kesas) was also flooded.
In an email to StarMetro last year, Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur DID director Mohd Azmin Husin said the Sungai Kuyoh/Bohol retention ponds were under the purview of the Federal Territories Ministry secretary-general.
He said irresponsible people living nearby threw household rubbish into the ponds while the rest of the rubbish was washed from upstream Sungai Klang.
“Desilting could not be carried out fully because of the high cost, so it was done only at the inlet and outlet of the Bohol pond.”
He said heavy rain at upstream Sungai Klang resulted in backflow at Sungai Kuyoh, which was unable to contain the floodwaters.
Mohd Azmin also announced that a RM300mil Sungai Kuyoh flood mitigation plan was expected to start in October this year.
