CAMERON HIGHLANDS, Nov 22 — Two flood barrier projects capable of saving thousands of people from future flooding is expected to be completed by May next year.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said the RM40 million flood barrier project along the Bertam River would be able to “protect up to 3,000 residents in the Bertam Valley for the next 100 years’’.

This, he said, was in addition to a similar project in Ringlet, which would be completed by 2017.

“Following the Bertam Valley floods in 2013, the government embarked on a project to widen and deepen the Bertam River. The project is 55 per cent completed. However, it is still capable of handling a large amount of water as it is close to the maximum water-carrying capacity,” he told reporters after visiting the site in Bertam Valley yesterday.

“Based on the amount of rainfall in the area, we foresee the completed project will be able to protect the Bertam Valley for 100 years.” 

The Bertam Valley project, overseen by the Department of Irrigation and Drainage, was supposed to be completed in September. However, the project was delayed due to land acquisition issues and technical problems with the river bedrock, said Wan Junaidi.

“Initially, we didn’t detect the presence of large boulders on the river bed. We had to dispose of them, which took some time.

“At the same time, the authorities also had to negotiate with the parties that owned land around the project area. We cannot simply bulldoze through people’s land,” he said.

Wan Junaidi said the second flood mitigation project in Ringlet would prevent future flooding for over two decades once it was completed.

He said this project, which was still in the planning stages, would be smaller than the ongoing project in Bertam Valley.

“We are still sorting through the land acquisition formalities. The design of the Ringlet project is also different from the one in Bertam Valley, where the former uses a culvert square. 

“This project will have a smaller capacity but we predict we will not see flooding in the area for 25 years once it is completed,” he said.

Wan Junaidi also said the ministry would be surveying areas where illegal cultivation and occupation of land had taken place around the highlands over the next three months.

Following this, he said he would ask Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi to reconvene a sitting of the special committee on flash flood and landslides to discuss problems related to illegal encroachment.

“When we have identified the areas that were used illegally, we will ask the parties to vacate the land so we can replant trees there,” he said.