BY NABILA AHMAD

The floodwaters reached knee-high during the downpour on Monday evening in the city centre.

JOHOR BARU: Traders along Jalan Wong Ah Fook here had a rough start to 2017 when their shops were flooded after a downpour on Monday evening.

The long-awaited completion of the Sungai Segget project turned sour when the area was hit by floods for the second time since 2015. The floods came after a two-and-a-half hour downpour.

Convenience store shop assistant Zakir Hussain, 32, said 40 blankets and electronic items were damaged in his store.

“The water rose to knee-high at around 4.30pm so we moved as many items as we could to higher ground,” said the Bangladeshi, adding that the clean up lasted until 10pm on the same night.

Restaurant cashier Bijaya, 25, who has been working there for four years, concurred that floods happen as often as three times a month.

“Customers will not come during heavy rain as they are afraid of being stranded,” said the Nepali.

The floodwater flowed into many shophouses.

Regular patrons of the outlet expressed their unhappiness about the situation.

Rashid, 55, said the area will be full of rubbish dispersed by floodwaters.

Johor DAP chief Liew Chin Tong who visited the site yesterday, called on the Iskandar Regional Development Authority (Irda) to face the music.

The Kluang MP said the situation had caused frustration among commuters, shop owners and Johor Baru residents.

Irda said in a statement that the floodwaters was not a result of overflow from Sungai Segget as the flood mitigation system had been installed at the area to accommodate the high tide and heavy rain.

Rubbish could be seen everywhere after the water receded.

It stated the flood was due to clogged waterways at Jalan Meldrum and overflow of water at construction sites near Jalan Trus.

“Irda will cooperate with the Johor Baru City Council (MBJB) to conduct clean up operations in the affected areas,” said the statement.

A car also stalled during the incident with water receding at around 5.30pm.

Other parts of the city area affected were near the Kipmart Hypermarket, Bakar Batu area, Jalan Tebrau and Permatang Kempas.

[slider id='81590' name='StarProperty' size='full']

Follow us on Wechat or Facebook for the latest updates.

Download StarProperty.my e-Mag(bit.ly/StarProperty_Emag) for more articles.

Want to contribute articles to StarProperty.my? Email editor@starproperty.my.