BY PRIYA MENON

THE land acquisition process for the second phase of the third Klang Bridge will carry on as scheduled and is expected to be completed in 2017.

Selangor Infrastructure Committee chairman Zaidy Talib said the state would pay for the land acquisition that is currently under way.

“The state, however, had decided to apply to use Federal Government funds to pay for the construction of the bridge’s second phase. The state-approved budget under the 13th Malaysia Plan is RM320mil,” said Zaidy.

Dr Halimah Ali (PAS-Selat Kelang) then asked if the state was willing to negotiate with the stakeholders in the area, including several traders who would be affected by the land acquisition.

Zaidy said the state would follow all procedures when dealing with the stakeholders and reaffirmed that the public amenity would be placed strategically for the community’s benefit.

During the session, Zaidy also answered queries on the flood situation in Kajang by Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail (PKR-Kajang).

Dr Wan Azizah asked about the state’s suggestion to upgrade the rivers around Kajang including Sungai Langat, Sungai Merbau, Sungai Balak and Sungai Jernih.

She also asked about the status of monitoring the MRT projects that was considered one of the reasons for the recent floods in the city.

Zaidy said works for Sungai Balak were expected to be advertised this month with an allocation of RM5mil for the drainage.

Meanwhile, the state will receive funds totalling of RM1,667,400 from the Federal Government for upgrading works on Sungai Langat.

“At Sungai Jernih, preliminary works were conducted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) between January and February this year.

“The recent floods were caused by high water levels at Sungai Langat as well as the ongoing works at the MRT Kajang depot which is on higher ground compared to Sungai Jernih,” he added.

Dr Wan Azizah asked about the cooperation with the local authorities during floods, especially after the last Sungai Jernih floods.

Zaidy said the local authorities had always been involved in the discussions with other agencies, including the DID and the Public Works department.

Zaidy urged the assemblymen to use the flood prevention taskforce to discuss issues between departments and jobs scopes.

“We have a flood prevention taskforce and there will be discussions with the assemblymen once everything has been ironed out,” he added.