Ringlet Lake desilting on schedule

Lake desilting on schedule
Wednesday February 8, 2006
By Florence A. Samy

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: Work to dredge and desilt Ringlet Lake is on schedule but the sediments have yet to be transported to the dumping ground as land clearing approval is still pending.

Uncontrolled development over the years had caused 75% of Ringlet Lake to be silted, increasing flood risks, especially to some 3,000 residents living and working in the Bertam Valley downstream.

A total of 80.9ha of the nearby Sungai Jasin and Sungai Jenik forest reserve have been de-gazetted and allocated by state authorities for the dumping of the lake’s dried silt and sediments.

Some 1,000 trees would be tagged and felled to make way for the dumping site and the Environmental Impact Assessment had been approved, said Datuk Md Sidek Ahmad, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) senior vice-president for operations.

He said only 21.85ha would be used to dump 2.2 million cubic metres of sediments dredged from the lake and dried at a nearby decanting area.

The lake is part of the 41-year-old Sultan Abu Bakar Dam that enables TNB’s Jor and Woh power station to generate 250 megawatts of electricity. This is the first time that such massive desilting activities are being carried out.

“Once desilting is complete, the lake’s capacity will increase from the present 25% to 100%, enabling it to cope with future siltations and act again as a flood mitigation,” he told the media during a tour of the desiliting area on Monday.

The desilting, which began on July 6 last year, would cost TNB about RM130mil and would be completed by Dec 11 next year.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Choong Ching Yan said development in the Cameron Highlands had reached saturated point and there were activities to make farmers aware of soil erosion and land clearing risks.

“We have increased the number of state land office officials from eight to 16 to ensure hillslopes are not cleared illegally for agriculture purposes.”

Deputy Energy, Water and Communications Minister Datuk Shaziman Abu Mansor, who was also present, said all parties including state and federal authorities, farmers and housing developers had to work together to minimise erosion and prevent massive siltation from occurring. -- The Star.

MASSIVE DESILTING: Silt and sediments from the Ringlet Lake being transported via small tunnels to this nearby decanting area before its left to dry.