SYNOPSIS

Rivers have always played a very important role in Malaysia’s development as being a source for domestic, industrial and agricultural water supply, navigation, power generation, recreation and the environment. Rivers also play an important role in maintaining the ecological balance and as a habitat for flora and fauna. The rapid pace of development over the decades has brought about the degradation of many of the country’s river systems. The rivers are being silted up, river water quality has deteriorated, potable water shortages are more frequent, and the incidences of floods have become relatively common. Our Malaysian cities are growing bigger in spatial and population terms. The total population in Malaysia in 2010 was 28.6 million and is expected to be 32.4 million in 2020, while the percentage of the urban population in Malaysia was 71% in 2010, and is expected to reach 77.2% in 2020 (Department of Statistics Malaysia, population projection based on the Population and Housing Census 2010, adjusted for under enumeration). Adding to this, many cities in Malaysia face additional pressures from the impacts of rising sea levels and extreme weather events, bringing with them the risk of flooding or periods of water stress. During water-stressed periods, temperatures may rise even further in the cities, due to the urban heat island effect. This Talk sets out a wide range of strategies paving the way to implement integrated urban water management (IUWM) in cities in Peninsular Malaysia.


BIODATA OF SPEAKER

Ir. C. Kamalesen Chandrasekaran
PEPC, FIEM, ACPE, Int. PE, APEC Eng., ASEAN Eng.

Ir. Kamalesen is a Civil Engineer with over 20 years of experience in the areas of water resources management,  flood management,  urban and transport infrastructure,  and agriculture irrigation and drainage. He is currently a Technical Director (Water) at AECOM and is based in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He graduated in Civil Engineering from University Sains Malaysia in 2000. In 2007, Kamal completed his post-graduate studies in Environmental Science (Integrated Water Resources Management) at Open University Malaysia. He is a registered Professional Engineer in Malaysia, an  ASEAN  Chartered Professional  Engineer, a Fellow of the  Institution of  Engineers  Malaysia where he is also registered as ASEAN Engineer, APEC Engineer and International Professional Engineer. In 2016, he was made an Associate of the Academy of Sciences Malaysia, serving in the Taskforce on Integrated Urban Water Management. He is currently also serving as Deputy Chairman of the Water Resources Technical Division of the Institution of Engineers Malaysia and is registered as a Qualified Person with the National Water Services Commission of Malaysia. Kamal has vast experience in working on large flood mitigation and drainage schemes as a designer, as well as providing an advisory role to the agencies implementing similar schemes in Malaysia and the Philippines. He also has the experience to provide technical reviews and advisory role for infrastructure involving multi-disciplinary inputs.