Statement by YB Kelvin Yii:
Together with YB Violet Yong, we paid a courtesy visit to the Sungai Sarawak Regulation Scheme (SSRS) that is currently managed by Kuching Barrage Management Sdn. Bhd to better understand the operations of the barrage especially in connection to flood mitigation in Kuching.
For the past few days, due to heavy downpour and different other factors, many parts of Kuching were submerged in water including locations that have not experienced flash flood for the past 10 to 20 years.
One of the concerns often raised especially during such flash floids is the operations of the barrage. So we believe it is important to better understand the whole operations and to make sure it is functioning as it is supposed to be.
We are grateful for the person in charge and the staff thst were very helpful in explaning to us their operations, SOPs and when they make decisions whether to close or open the barrage. When there is high tide,, they have to close up the barrage in order to prevent inflow of water from the sea.
We were informed that if they do not do that, the floods in Kuching may be worst due to the inflow of water into the city from the sea. To make such decisons, they receive daily weather report from the Malaysian Meteorological Department.
Real-time water and rainfall data is collected by the telemetry system and based on computational model of the Sarawak River. The predicted discharge and water level are the two main factors in deciding when to operate the barrage gates.
With better understanding of the operations, we then can explain better to our constituency and also better monitor the operations of the barrage for the good of the people. While it itself cannot solve all the problems of the flash flood, but with good operations, we hope it can at least mitigate some of the flooding problems we face in Kuching.
Kelvin Yii Lee Wuen
MP Bandar Kuching
