Residents living next to where the Sungai Besi - Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) is being built are complaining of floods whenever there is a downpour.

They claim that there have been two flood incidents in the past two months.

“I have lived here for 24 years, no matter how heavy the rain was, the water would always just flow into the drain behind our house," Saidati Hassan, 56 (photo), who has lived in her Taman Bukit Teratai townhouse for the past two decades, said.

“This is the first time we have had flash floods, we have had two floods in the past two months,” she said.

The first flood happened on March 19 while the second happened just three days ago. Seventeen houses were affected in the second flood.

These houses, like Saidati’s, are situated at the foothills of Bukit Sungai Putih (photo below), where SUKE is being constructed.

Clearing of land for the expressway began in January this year.

Saidati’s daughter Nina, who is seven months' pregnant with her second child, was at home when the latest flood happened.

“Brown muddy water came in from the back of the house. I just grabbed my son and left.

“My mom was crying, she even fell down because it was slippery,” said Nina.

Saidati and her family were placed in a hotel for a night by Prolintas Sdn Bhd, the corporation behind SUKE's construction.

After moving back the next day, her husband had to take two days off from work to clean their home and throw out furniture destroyed in the flood.

Motorbike washed away

A few doors down is where Foong Thai Thai (photo) and her family live.

Foong, 53, observed how her motorcycle was washed away in the flood. She eventually found it four houses away.

“Water overflowed from the drains into our house, the water was as high as a person,” she said.

After the first flood, Prolintas built a large drain to channel rainwater away from the Taman Bukit Teratai residential area.

“Thank goodness they made the drain, or else I can’t imagine how high the water would have been,” Foong said.

Foong, who has been living in her house for the past two years, said she now had trouble sleeping when it rained at night. She worries constantly about the possibility of a landslide.

Among other things, Foong’s neighbour Lim Ley Yow (photo) had her air conditioning unit, bookshelf and two computers damaged by the brown muddy water that inundated their home.

“I was standing outside at the back of my house when I saw the water coming from the top of the hill (Bukit Sungai Putih).

“The water reached my home in less than a minute, I didn’t have time to pick up our shoes and slippers. They were all washed away,” she said.

'Stop all work'

SUKE meantime said they have taken immediate measures.

“After the first flood, we built a large drain to direct rainwater to the main drain, but unfortunately a flood occurred again,” said SUKE project manager Abdul Halim Romli.

This time, Abdul Halim’s team will remove all debris (caused by the floods) from the three catchment ponds located on the hill of the construction site, build low walls around residents' doorways plus rebuild the gabion wall that collapsed in the flood.

"We have taken immediate, temporary and permanent measures," he added.

A SUKE mobile kiosk has also been set up in front of the construction site to respond to residents’ complaints and to assist them with insurance claims against Prolintas.

Teratai assemblyperson and DAP politician Tiew Way Keng has called for a stop work order against SUKE until all flood mitigation work is completed.

“All mitigation work must be completed in five days’ time and the contractors (Cergas Murni Sdn Bhd) have also been fined RM250,000.

“This was decided in a meeting with the Ampang Jaya Local Council (MPAJ), Public Works Ministry (JKR), Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma),” she said when contacted by Malaysiakini.

Gerakan complaints bureau chief Liew Pok Boon and MCA Pandan chairperson Leong Kok Wee visited the residential area and weighed in on the matter.

“SUKE did not build a good water management system and the gabion wall was made of bad materials.

“Compensation for both floods should be paid to residents. Besides insurance claims that take a long time, Prolintas should come up with some emergency money to help residents clean up their homes,” said Leong.

SUKE, first proposed in 2012, will begin at the Sri Petaling interchange and exit at Ulu Kelang. It passes through more than 60 residential areas including 338 premises in Hulu Langat and 50 premises in Gombak, Malay Mail Online reported.

The 24.4km expressway is expected to be completed by August 2019.