HULU LANGAT, Jan 3 — A total of 34 residences in Sungai Lui here that were badly damaged by the recent floods will be replaced with new houses under the Works Ministry’s Rumah Kekal Banjir (RKB) assistance.
Senior Works Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusuf said the initiative is provided free of charge to owners of homes that were badly damaged, including those that were swept away by floodwaters.
He said there are two house designs suggested and subject to final approval, ground level housing and housing on stilts.
“A house on stilts cost RM70,000 while a ground level house costs RM56,000. The house will be 660 square feet with three rooms, a bathroom, a living room and a dining area,” he said after inspecting the construction of the Bailey bridge near Batu 19, Sungai Lui today.
Fadillah said all flood victims who qualify for the assistance have been identified by local community leaders and verified by the district office.
He said the new houses will be built on 4land owned by the flood victim and its construction would depend on discussions with the land owner.
“The government is prepared to implement it, it’s only from the point of administration and the timing will depend on negotiations with the land owner.
“If they agree with this concept, then the Public Works Department (PWD) will receive the allocation and we will carry out the next process, including appointing a contractor,” he said.
He added that the assistance would be expanded to other states, including Pahang and Kelantan that have been hit by floods but will be in accordance with current needs if the disaster damaged a lot of homes severely.
On the Bailey bridge, Fadillah said the PWD is requesting allocation from the government to add seven more bridge sets if another severe flood occurs and causes the bridge to collapse.
“If a big flood hits and the bridge collapses, we (PWD) do not have enough Bailey bridges stocked up currently. So if we go by our existing stocks, we have only four sets on standby,” he said, adding the cost of constructing a Bailey bridge reached up to RM30 million.
Besides that, he said 895 locations, including roads, bridges and slops were affected by floods throughout the Peninsula since Dec 18.
“Out of the total, 802 locations have been cleaned, meaning there are roads that have reopened, either both lanes or at least one lane,” he added.
He said that the ministry estimated that almost RM970 million were allocated for clean up and restoration of infrastructure affected by the floods.
Sources: BERNAMA