Kampung Padang Jawa, 16 December 2023 – Padang Jawa, Shah Alam was one of the most affected areas during the devastating floods of December 2021 with over 30 families having to be relocated to temporary shelters housed in Sekolah Kebangsaan Padang Jawa. This is in part due to Padang Jawa being situated on the banks of the great Klang Valley river.
With climate change and altering geographical landscape, Selangor is at risk of major flooding. To mitigate the risks, a “Smart Flood” program, under the initiative of Service Learning Malaysia – University for Society (SULAM), was successfully organised by the College of Computing, Informatics, and Mathematics (KPPIM), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam.
The ‘Smart Flood’ program centers on the use of advanced technologies and information systems to manage and overcome flooding effectively. This includes the use of sensors, data analysis as well as ICT infrastructure to monitor weather conditions, water flows, river flows and the nearby environment that can be affected by flooding.
Dr Nur’aina Daud and Dr Jasber Gian Singh from KPPIM supervised the project as Program Directors. 140 undergraduates from the Bachelor of Information Systems (Hons.) Intelligent Systems Engineering and the Bachelor of Computer Science (Hons.) Multimedia Computing, worked together to strategize on effective flood management. This resulted in the installation of the Flood Detector at Tebing Sungai Klang, Kawasan Padang Jawa. It offers features such as Geographic Information System (GiS) which connects data to the map, Alternate Emergency Route and Communication which advises a safe route to traverse in a flood using Google Maps API, the use of mobile application to report flood conditions, receive warnings, and access important information, and ReliefLog which displays data of relief aids being donated and in storage. All of which will be native to the android platform for quick and ease of use.
Before the actual technology installation on the 16th of December, a group of students went to Padang Jawa on the 9th of November to review the location in order to identify suitable flood management technologies that can empower the community of Kampung Padang Jawa.
During the installation of the Flood Detector technology, the Padang Jawa community were briefed on its features and benefits. A demonstration on its features usage was also provided. The installation of the technology was well received by the Kampung Padang Jawa community. “I believe the program today can bring positive impact to this community and I also believe the features presented to me today can help the community of Padang Jawa in flood management,” said Mr. Milzam, one of Padang Jawa community members.
KPPIM SULAM 2023/2024 programme is one of the initiatives aimed at empowering and serving the community through volunteer activities. Undergraduates are given the opportunity to apply their knowledge practically and discover how the knowledge they have acquired can also improve the living standards of the local community. The activities also support the aspirations of Fourth, Eleventh and Thirteenth Sustainable Development Goals, which are Quality Education, Sustainable Cities and Communities as well as Climate Action. It is also in line with the visions of Malaysia Madani.