Ahmad Zahid, who was accompanied by Sarawak Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu, arrived at the barrage across the Sungai Sarawak at Sejingkat at 9.40am.

He was welcomed by Sarawak Infrastructure and Communications Minister Michael Manyin.

Also accompanying Ahmad Zahid were Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim; Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Ahmad Shabery Cheek and Sarawak Rivers Board Controller William Jinep.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also the chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority, was given a briefing on the function of the barrage in mitigating floods in Kuching.

The Deputy Prime Minister then proceeded to Wisma Bapa Malaysia, the state government administration building, for a briefing on floods in Sarawak.

The Sungai Sarawak Regulation Scheme, which incorporates a barrage, a shiplock, two causeways and a bridge, is the first of its kind in Southeast Asia.

One of the causeways spans Sungai Santubong at Bako and the other Sungai Sarawak at Pending.

The scheme, which cost RM150 million, is the brainchild of former Sarawak Chief Minister and now Yang Dipertua Negeri Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud. Construction began in May 1995 and was completed in August 1998.

The barrage, which was designed based on the floods that occurred in 1963 and with additional input from experts from Britain and Denmark, has been effective in mitigating floods in Kuching.

– BERNAMA