Cancelled Canal City project resurfaces after Selangor floods
After being buried for 10 years, the Canal City project in Selangor has resurfaced after flash floods inundated several parts of the state last week.
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said the project should be revisited if it could mitigate future floods.
The Canal City, which kicked off in 2007 by BN-controlled Selangor, involved a flood mitigation project in the form of an 18km-canal linking...
After being buried for 10 years, the Canal City project in Selangor has resurfaced after flash floods inundated several parts of the state last week.
Former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak said the project should be revisited if it could mitigate future floods.
The Canal City, which kicked off in 2007 by BN-controlled Selangor, involved a flood mitigation project in the form of an 18km-canal linking Sungai Klang and Sungai Langat.
According to a Berita Harian report then, the canal would have diverted 30 percent of water from the Klang river during peak periods.
Najib, in a Facebook post last week, said the project would have also included several large water catchments which could be used as a source of water for Selangor residents.
Plans to build the Canal City hit a roadblock when Pakatan Rakyat captured Selangor in 2008, following which the state government asked for a more comprehensive flood mitigation project.
The canal project was then cancelled in 2011, with then menteri besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim saying it was not beneficial to the people.
Khalid's former political secretary, Faekah Husin, detailed in a lengthy Facebook post yesterday that a study by the Selangor Irrigation and Drainage Department found that the canal would not have mitigated floods.
She added that Khalid had laid out a 50-year plan to mitigate floods, including by building hybrid off river augmentation systems (Horas).
However, she said she was unsure whether this plan was still in place after Khalid was forced out of office in 2014.
Sungai Langat flows from Hulu Langat to Kuala Langat. Both areas were badly affected by last week's flooding, as was Klang.
Water surge from mountains
Selangor Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari told a press conference yesterday that in Hulu Langat, the flooding had been caused by a water surge from the surrounding mountains.
He also said he has not yet received any information indicating that the construction of the East Klang Valley Expressway (EKVE) had contributed to the flooding in Hulu Langat.
Amirudin was also dismissive of Canal City's potential to resolve floods.
“Is Canal City the answer? We must see the amount of water it can take.
"If it can’t hold up to 300-400mm (of rain), we can call it Canal City or Tower City, it won’t solve the issue,” he was quoted as saying by Malay Mail.
Instead, Amirudin said the issue that needs to be addressed now is how to ensure that water catchments can cope with more than 100mm of rain.
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