KOTA TINGGI: Seven Flood Mitigation Plan (RTB) projects, costing RM1.6 billion, in Johor have been implemented this year and are expected to be completed in 2027, which is earlier than orginally planned.
State Works, Transport, Infrastructure and Communications Committee chairman Mohamad Fazli Mohamad Salleh said the projects were previously expected to be completed in 2029, but were successfully accelerated after getting commitments from the contractors involved.
He said it was also one of Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi’s efforts to form a task force to ensure such high-impact projects were expedited and not delayed.
“Floods occur in Johor almost yearly, so we do not want them to recur for a longer period of time, therefore, after discussions were held involving all parties, it was accelerated,“ he said at a press conference after visiting the Sungai Johor RTB project here today.
“All the projects started this year and some have started in terms of the physical and design. We hope they can be completed quickly because the projects involve hundreds of thousands of Johor citizens who have been affected by the floods.”
He said among the RTB projects are the upgrading of the Sungai Muar between between the confluence of Sungai Jementah to the confluence of Sungai Labis and related works as well as the construction of a flood reservoir and upgrading project of the Sungai Johor in Kota Tinggi.
Onn Hafiz was previously reported to have said that the allocation of RM1.6 billion, through the Ministry of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change (NRECC), was for a long-term solution to the flood problem in the state.
He said the project involved the Muar River Basin, Segamat; Johor River Basin, Kota Tinggi; and the town of Batu Pahat. -Bernama
