The Sarawak River Barrage has been instrumental in reducing the impact of flooding in some parts of the city.

“The flood scenario in some low-lying areas could have been worse if not for the barrage,” said a spokesperson from Kuching Barrage Management Sdn Bhd.

“Based on the rainfall data collected in the past few days, many low-lying areas in Kuching would have been flooded but were spared as the barrage has been able to control the floodwaters.

“In areas where there are floods, it only lasted for a few hours. Among others, the barrage is built to control fluvial and tidal flooding in Kuching. It never says to prevent flooding, but it can mitigate and minimise the impact,” he told a group of visitors from SUPP Youth Central here yesterday.

The group was led by its chief Tan Kai who said they wanted to learn more about the barrage’s function first hand and see if the barrage gates had malfunctioned as claimed by some people in the last few days.

Over Dec 24 and 25, the state capital received more than 200mm of rain. The heavy downpour plus the occurrence of King Tides between 6m and 6.2m have caused some areas in Batu Kawah, Petra Jaya and Bau to be flooded.

The spokesperson said the barrage gates had never failed to function since they started operations in January 1998.

“They have never malfunctioned once until today,” he pointed out.

He explained that whenever there was heavy rainfall detected upriver, the gates would be opened immediately within 12 hours to flush out water downstream.

He said when it rained heavily on Dec 25, the gates were opened as usual to flush out excessive water and closed after a balance in pressure between water from upriver and downriver, or when water level at the barrage gates reached 8m to 8.5m.

Therefore, he said it was untrue for the public to think that the barrage was one of the contributing factors to the floods.

“After the barrage was built, the discharge of water volume increased by 25% although there is one river channel to the sea instead of two channels previously,” he said.

The spokesperson also said the sizing of the barrage was based on the 1963 flood event with discharge of 3,500m3/s based on five gates of 25m width.

“The sixth gate is a contingency plan. If the situation is more severe than the 1963 flood, the constriction effect comes in. If the situation is less severe, the barrage alleviates flood,” he said.

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i cannot believe that the barrage is of no use to our ppl AT ALL. how delusional.

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I have heard of floods in the same areas as before. Locals blame it ignorantly or otherwise on the barrage and causeway across to Bako. I am pretty sure these two (the barrage and causeway) played a role in the flood. To what extend, perhaps one will have to go further back into history of floods in Kuching and its surrounding areas and make comparisons then and now.

You also have to take into account development factors. Greed drove developers to clear and build on low lying swampy lands. Not only are these buildings notably houses and shophouses expensive, they are poorly built and prone to cracks and sinking. In certain areas drainage are not even properly built. The local councils are equally to be blamed for granting the permit to build on low lying areas. Sarawak is a large state with a relatively small population. Couldn’t they approve places that though further away are less prone to floods and other problems?

Did the current construction of the Benggoh dam further away from Kuching contribute to the floods especially in the village of Giam?

Two things that strike me about the floods this time in Kuching.

First, we have a Deputy Chief Minister who is in charge of the state disaster management unit. At the height of floods, he says these places cannot be reached even by helicopters due to the bad weather.Hey what kind of disaster management plan is that? Get suitable helicopters that can fly anytime anywhere. We managed to send Dr SMS to space!!! Surely if Malaysia Boleh, so can Sarawak Boleh.

Secondly and surprising even the lifts at the Sarawak General Hospital was affected by the flooding at its basement level. The four lifts’ doors were jamed. Another two which was under ‘repair’ or something to that effect had to be used instead. I have never heard of the Sarawak General Hospital ever been affected by the floods. So why this time? Could it be due to the renovation works that is currently be done?

So finally who or what do you blame? Mother nature? Greed? Barrage? Development? Well of course first and foremost we need to blame ourselves for voting clowns into the government in the first place. Instead of servicing the people, these clowns are taking all for a ride. If doesn’t rain over the Chinese New Year period (king tides during that week as well), all will be forgotten of the 2009 floods until the next floods hit. It will keep coming back until we truly understand what we have done or contributed to its causes.

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Barrages are used in various places around the world to raise the level of a river upstream of the barrage, to make it more useful for boats or shipping , channel part of the water for irrigation or hydro-electric power. A barrage, by definition, is a free-flowing barrier across the river, has no effect on the nett amount of water flowing through it, hence has absolutely no use for flood mitigation.

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