KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 23 — Kuala Lumpur and Selangor are joining forces to tackle the Klang Valley’s flood problems, with plans to review dam capacity, build new retention ponds and dredge rivers as part of a five-point action plan.
The move comes as both administrations seek to better manage water flowing from Hulu Selangor through Kuala Lumpur and towards the southern parts of the Klang Valley, where heavy rain can quickly turn into flooding.
“Selangor and Kuala Lumpur must join forces to manage water drainage from the Hulu Selangor area which flows through Kuala Lumpur and onward to the southern localities,” Selangor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari and Federal Territories Minister Hannah Yeoh said in a joint statement today.
One of the first steps will be a technical meeting within two weeks to pin down where the projects should be carried out, how much they will cost, who will fund them and how they will be implemented.
The two administrations also want to find out whether Batu Dam and Klang Gate Dam have enough capacity to handle the region’s water-management needs over the next 20 to 30 years.
They will also look upstream, including in Selangor, for suitable sites to build new flood-retention ponds that can hold back excess water before it reaches more densely populated areas.
At the same time, the Selangor Department of Irrigation and Drainage will identify three existing ponds that could be enlarged – Kampung Laksamana Pond, Sungai Kertas Pond and the pond at Bukit Lagong.
The Bukit Lagong site could prove more complicated, however, as it sits within a forest reserve and would have to be de-gazetted if the land is used for the proposed flood-retention expansion.
Another part of the plan is to coordinate river dredging and sediment removal works across Kuala Lumpur and Selangor, with the Kuala Lumpur Department of Irrigation and Drainage also tasked with helping find a 30-acre site in Selangor to dispose of dredged material.
The site will have to meet technical and land requirements while also taking into account how the sediment will be managed and its potential impact on surrounding areas and the environment.
The joint push comes as the two administrations highlight the scale of the challenge, with Selangor and Kuala Lumpur together accounting for 41.7 per cent of Malaysia’s economy and being home to about three in 10 Malaysians.
The administrations said the measures would be worked out in greater detail before the next parliamentary session and Budget 2027, with regular meetings planned to track progress and resolve outstanding issues.
“The priorities of both administrations are to reduce flood risk, strengthen urban resilience and ease the concerns of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor residents during the rainy season,” they said.
They added that flood management, urban development and the protection of green spaces would have to be planned together rather than tackled in isolation.
