Culvert At 8th Mile Jalan Puchong To Be Widened

THE flood problem affecting Jalan Puchong residents will come to an end soon, with the widening of a culvert.

Former Kinrara assemblyman Dr Kow Cheong Wei, who initiated the project, said the current 3m-wide culvert at the 8th mile of Jalan Puchong was built in 1974, and it would be replaced by a 9.5m-wide one.

“Flash floods that hit the area during heavy downpours have been occurring since 2005 when water from Lebuhraya Bukit Jalil was directed to flow into Bandar Kinrara Section 3, causing the water volume in this culvert to increase by at least half,” he said.

This project was first mooted to the Public Works Department (JKR) in 2006 and was approved in December last year. It is expected to be completed by November this year.

Source of problem: Kow (third from right), Puchong MCA division chairman Wong Hock Aun (second from left) and other MCA members at the construction site at Jalan Puchong.

“Besides this new culvert which is 70m long, 300m of side drains along Jalan Puchong will also be rebuilt,” said Kow.
As traffic along this particular stretch of road would be obstructed for the time being, Perunding Aidid Sdn Bhd project manager Jorafozi Ruhmat said the road shoulders would be turned into temporary roads.

“Currently, there are four lanes of dual-flow traffic and this will remain when we occupy the road shoulders later.

“Residents can also try to avoid Jalan Puchong by using the inner roads in the housing areas nearby,” he said.

Kow urged the related parties involved – including Telekom, Syabas and Bomba – to give their cooperation to ensure the success of the project.

“The construction works were delayed as some of them hadn't submitted the relevant reports to us,” he said.

He added that once the project was completed, the Subang Jaya Municipal Council (MPSJ) would be able to start widening the monsoon drain which flows through Taman Kinrara Section 2 before joining the Klang River.

“The works should commence this year to curb the flood problem,” said Kow.

He also urged the Selangor government to release the promised RM4.5mil allocated for this project as they had received only RM3.07mil so far.

“Besides the physical construction, we also need to take into account many other aspects, such as road safety,” he said.

Source: Thio Xin Yi, The Star