EKVE Sdn Bhd senior general manager Mohd Khalid Mohamed said the company was committed to ensuring the problem would be solved with several mitigation measures put in place and would continue to improve on the measures.
He did not deny that the construction work near the area had contributed to the floods but said some constrictions at Sungai Gahal that runs along the area, besides heavy rainfall, had also contributed to the problem.
“This is not the first time the area had been flooded. Before construction (in May 2016), there were small floods. What we have done is install culverts along the expressway and completed all aspects of the drainage system so that water from the forest will flow directly to our retention ponds and Sungai Gahal, thus sparing the affected areas.
“For Felcra Semungkis, we have also identified constrictions which made the river shallow. So now we are deepening and widening the river and also constructing bunks with the permission of the residents. There are about four places (along Sungai Gahal) involved, and we will do the work regularly,” he told a media briefing here today.
The mud floods had occurred in June and the worst incident was in October. Following numerous complaints from residents over the mud floods in October, the Department of Environment had issued a stop-work order until the developer completed remedial and rehabilitation works.
The EKVE will be a dual carriageway with toll plazas at five interchanges in Sungai Long, Bandar Mahkota Cheras, Hulu Langat, Ampang and Ukay Perdana.
It was given the green light by the Ampang Jaya Municipal Council in August 2015 and had been gazetted in the 2011 MPAJ Draft Local Plan for 2020.
On the stop-work order, Khalid said it had been lifted by DOE through a letter received by the company last Friday, but with specific conditions.
“Construction can resume, only in one area, which is 500 metres long near Kampung Felcra Semungkis, we have to wait until the weather improves,” he said.
He added that the company had also met with the residents last Saturday to get input on how to improve the flood situation.
He said the expressway would be completed in September 2019.