Bandar Seri Begawan - The Department of Drainage and Sewe rage ofthe Public Works Department will be implementing a project for the improvement of drainage with the aim of reducing the occurrence of flash floods along the areas at Jln Lorong Tiga Barat, Jalan Bolkiah, Jln Raja Isteri and at Jln Lorong Sam Barat.

According to a press release, the project implementation is part of a response to flood incident which occurred in the above mentioned areas on January 3 due to heavy rainfall. The existing drain along Jln Lorong Tiga Barat was full of water and the drain was also not discharging fully into the existing Jalan Bolkiah drain.

This is due to the existing undersized drain and culvert connecting the existing 600mm drain along Jln Lorong Tiga Barat to 4m drain along Jln Bolkiah.

Replacement of 600mm/900mm concrete drains with 3m to 4m new concrete drains along Jalan Raja Isteri, Jln Lorong Satu Barat and Jln Lorong Tiga Barat will reduce the flooding inside the catchment areas.

Replacement of existing 600mm pipe culverts with 3m to 4m concrete box culverts along Jalan Raja Isteriiln Lorong Satu Barat and Jln Lorong Tiga Barat will increase the free flow of the storm water from the catchment areas.

The proposed new drains from Jln Raja Isteri, Jln Lorong Satu Barat and Jln Lorong Tiga Barat designed for Q50 design period are connected to the existing 8m concrete drain which in turn discharges to Sungai Bera detention pond and pumped to Sungai Bera.

Thus the tidal water does not ingress the above areas. Therefore with the implementation of this project, the occurrence of flash floods will be minimised, as bigger sized drains and culverts are constructed.

The Public Works Department reminds the public that dumping rubbish into drains are one of the causes of flash floods, as the rubbish will block the flow of the water in the drains, resulting in drainage overflows. Therefore, the Department seeks public assistance as to not throw rubbish into the drains.

Any suggestions or complaints may be directed to the Ministry of Development's Customer Care Centre hotline at 140.

--Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin