PERAK BUDGET 2026: RM116.9 MLN FOR DID TO IMPLEMENT FLOOD MITIGATION MEASURES - MB

IPOH, Nov 25 (Bernama) -- The Perak Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID( will receive an additional allocation of RM5.4 million for management expenditure, bringing its total allocation to RM116.9 million for 2026.

Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the department would implement flood mitigation measures and strengthen its role as the state’s first line of defence against floods.

“Even with allocation increasing yearly and various mitigation efforts, there are families suffering because of floods. Their precious property is destroyed in the blink of the eye, their hopes dashed just like that.

“Preventive measures must be stepped up, mitigation fine-tuned, and recovery processes sped up, so that weather warnings won’t turn into moments of panic for our people in at-risk areas,” he said when presenting the Perak Budget 2026 at the state legislative assembly at Perak Darul Ridzuan Building here today.

The allocation includes RM10.4 million for maintenance of the irrigation plan management, RM11.3 million for river management maintenance, RM9.2 million for maintenance of agricultural irrigation schemes, RM3.6 million for mechanical and electrical and RM0.9 million for hydrology facilities management maintenance.

“For development expenditure, RM14.0 million has been set aside for the DID, including the implementation of various flood mitigation projects (RM7.5 million), management of rivers and beaches (RM4 million), agriculture irrigation (RM1.7 million), buildings and infrastructure (RM200,000) and Ecological Fiscal Transfer for Biodiversity Conservation (EFT) (RM600,000),” Saarani said.

He also revealed that thanks to continuous engagement and close ties with the federal government, several projects have been approved under the rolling plan of the 13th Malaysia Plan (13MP) to reduce the risk of disasters.

This includes RM50 million for the river conservation projects to reduce flood risks in Perak, RM49.9 million for the conservation of Sungai Pelus, Pekan Lintang and related work in Kuala Kangsar district, RM75  million for the Sabo works construction in Perak and RM10 million for a beach erosion control project in Sungai Tiang Utara, Rungkup sub-district, Bagan Datuk district.

Perak is one of the states most badly hit by recent floods with 2,959 evacuees from 933 families being housed in 35 relief centres in the state this afternoon.

-- BERNAMA