Govt consider building SMART tunnel in Shah Alam to solve flood crisis 

pic credit: David Boey

Due to the recent flood crisis in Shah Alam, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that government may consider building a Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel (SMART) tunnel system as a solution to mitigate floods in that area. 

Ismail added that this initiative was a part of short and long-term measures identified to resolve flood issues nationwide and to reduce the effects of such disasters on the people's well-being.

He said a national disaster management committee meeting chaired by him had heard a proposal for SMART tunnels to be constructed, especially in high-density areas such as Shah Alam.

"The meeting had also endorsed a host of proposals by the Environment and Water Ministry, including to upgrade, deepen and widen main rivers, to build more barriers and barrages.

"There are also plans to develop settlement areas that are resilient like sponge cities in China.

"All these proposals are comprehensive solutions to the flood problem and they involve not only allocations by the billions of ringgit but also a long time before they can materialise.

"Therefore the meeting agrees for the government to focus on high-risk areas and that priority be given to implement these plans," he said as reported by The Star.