MELAKA, July 15 — The Melaka government has approved an immediate allocation of RM5 million to carry out repair and restoration works on drainage systems and infrastructure damaged during the floods that hit the state on Saturday (July 11).

State senior Housing, Local Government, Drainage, Climate Change and Disaster Management Committee chairman Datuk Rais Yasin said this was decided during the Post-Flood Coordination Meeting that he chaired on July 13.

“The scope of works includes riverbank repairs, repairs to control structures, bridge repairs, maintenance and cleaning of drainage systems, as well as roads damaged by the floods,” he said at the Melaka State Legislative Assembly sitting at Kompleks Seri Negeri here today.

He was replying to a supplementary question from Allex Seah Shoo Chin (PH-Kesidang), who asked about the immediate action taken by the state government to address the flash floods that hit several areas in Melaka recently.

Elaborating, Rais said the state government also implemented medium-term solutions, including receiving an allocation of RM3 million from the Ministry of Energy Transition and Water Transformation (PETRA) for maintenance and upgrading works at the Paya Rumput Flood Retention Pond.

“The works are expected to begin in August with three main focuses, including increasing the retention capacity through sediment dredging and cleaning works to accommodate high volumes of rainwater,” he said.

Earlier, Datuk Siti Faizah Abdul Azis (BN-Sungai Rambai) asked if the state government had plans to implement flood mitigation projects in the Sungai Rambai area, which frequently experiences flash floods.

In response, Rais said the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) has approved an allocation of RM250,000 for the appointment of consultants to carry out a Flood Mitigation Feasibility Study for the Sungai Rambai state constituency.

He added that the state government has also taken note of the Sungai Kesang Flood Mitigation Project (RTB) being implemented by the Johor DID, which is expected to help reduce flood risks for residents in the Sungai Rambai locality. — Bernama