A new barrage across Sungai Muda is 77% complete and is expected to be finished six months ahead of schedule, chief minister Chow Kon Yeow said.
The structure at Rantau Panjang in north Seberang Perai carries a RM117.79 million price tag and is paid for by the federal government, FMT reported. Work is expected to wrap up by mid-2027.
The barrage replaces an older structure on the Penang side of the river and sits 30cm higher, which lets more water be held back when the river runs low. “The purpose of the barrage is to hold and store water, particularly during the dry season, so that sufficient water can be channelled upstream for abstraction by Penang and Kedah for water treatment and agricultural use,” he told Buletin Mutiara, the Penang government’s news portal, after a site visit.
A barrage is a low structure built across a river to hold back water and control its level, rather than a dam that stores a large reservoir. Penang draws about 85% of its water supply from Sungai Muda, and low river levels earlier this year raised fears over shortages, pushing the Penang Water Supply Corporation to activate its contingency plan.
The barrage it replaces dates from 1973, when it was built to stop seawater pushing into the upper reaches of the river, as Bernama recorded in April. Lifting the crest by 300mm raises the level upstream of the structure, which Chow said improved raw water intake capacity and reduced the loss of potential water resources.
The barrage forms part of the works tied to the Mengkuang Dam expansion. Chow said the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (Petra) is also studying other projects to lock in supply for both states. “There are other components and projects that need to be implemented as well, and we hope all of them can be completed to achieve our objective of ensuring water supply security for both Penang and Kedah,” he said.
It is one of five federal water projects in Penang worth a combined RM837.5 million. The others cover the final components of the Mengkuang Dam expansion, raw water works linked to Sungai Kerian, intake upgrades at Titi Kerawang and Teluk Awak in Teluk Bahang, and a study of future raw water sources.
Those federal projects sit alongside the state’s own Water Contingency Plan 2030, a programme worth RM2.1 billion.
Chow thanked Petra for funding the barrage and the consultants and contractors for delivering it ahead of time. “I would like to express my appreciation to Petra for funding this project, as well as to the consultants and contractors involved in delivering the project ahead of schedule, hopefully for the benefit of water users, particularly in Penang,” he said.
He was briefed on the project’s progress, its scope of work and the drive to strengthen intake capacity. Also present were state deputy secretary (development) Datuk Mohamed Abdul Rahman, Water Regulatory Division secretary Najwa Juaini Azmi, Petra water supply department project design and management division director Nor Halim Aludin and Penang Water Supply Corporation chief executive officer Datuk K. Pathmanathan.
Chow tied the project to the Penang2030 vision of a greener, smarter state, saying basic infrastructure had to keep supporting the people’s well-being and the state’s economic growth.
