GEORGE TOWN – Arteries in a heart clogged with cholesterol, causing cardiac arrest – that is how Penang MCA described the polluted rivers in the state that are clogged and overflowing, leading to floods in various areas.
Cheah Chin Woon, the state MCA’s social movement bureau head, urged the state government to deepen and widen the rivers, drains and canals to enable the waterways to collect larger volumes of water during the rainy seasons and thereby avoid flooding.
“I urge the state to create parallel waterways, like a stent, a metal mesh tube that expands inside a coronary artery, to overcome the trash-clogged drains and rivers so as to address the serious flood problems in the state.
“There is no point for the state to pay compensation to the flood victims. It will be wise to spend the money to upgrade the drainage system,” he said.
He accused the Penang Island City Council of failing to provide sufficient rubbish bins for residents to dispose of their domestic waste,” he said at a press conference held at a temporary research centre in The Light here today.
Also present was state MCA complaints bureau chief Lee Thai Guan, state MCA committee member Bob Tan Yong Tong and several others from the committee.
Cheah said that while the city council usually complains of residents throwing beds and refrigerators into the rivers, it has failed to check on motorbike and car workshops which have been discharging black oil into drains.
“Whose mistake is that? The council’s enforcement issues summonses on the people for minor things. But these culprits who only take care of their own interest get away with their wrongdoings,” he said.
Cheah demonstrated the artificial flooding scene at the temporary research centre.
He said one of the best ways to address rivers overflowing is by deepening the river as a deeper riverbed would accommodate higher volume of water in the rivers, drainage systems and canals.
The MCA team challenged the state government and the city council to resolve the pollution at the Sg Pinang river, which has been bringing about overflowing waters during heavy rain for decades. – The Vibes, May 18, 2022.
