PENANG DUN | Penang is studying the possibility of constructing a water detention tank, dubbed 'monkey's cheek', similar to a flood mitigation project that was implemented in Bangkok, Thailand.

"I visited Bangkok recently and attended briefings about flood mitigation projects in the city, including the underground detention tank method," said the state executive councillor for Works, Utility and Flood Mitigation Zairil Khir Johari.

"In Thai, it is called kaem ling, meaning monkey's cheek," he during his winding-up speech at the state legislative assembly today.

Zairil said he asked about the name and was told it was an analogy of the primate's behaviour.

"When a monkey is eating a banana, his friends would try to snatch it from him.

"So, the monkey will stuff its mouth with many bananas until his cheeks expand, after that it would slowly chew his food," Zairil explained.

He said that is how the 'monkey's cheek' technology would work; by 'stuffing' the tank with water, which will be swallowed by a pump and released into the river.

The concept is not new and has been practised in many countries, added the Tanjung Bungah assemblyperson.

"It is not cheap, it cost around RM300 million."

He was referring to Lee Khai Loon's (PKR-Machang Bubok) suggestion that Penang emulate Bangkok's water retention method in Centenary Park at the Chulalongkorn University.

The 11-acre land comes with an underground tank which can retain 3,785 cubic meters of water - 1.5 times bigger than an Olympic size swimming pool.

"I agree that the project seems very exciting, not only for its function for flood mitigation but also it is aesthetic and recreational as the park can be used by the public when it is not raining," Zairil said.

The proposal is to address flood issues in Penang, which has been hit by the problem several times last year, displacing thousands.

The massive flood on Nov 4 and 5, which heavily inundated Penang with water, killed seven, and pressure mounts for the state to upgrade its flood mitigation projects.

Former chief minister Lim Guan Eng had recently announced that the Finance Ministry, which he heads now, has confirmed RM150 million for the project.

The last flood mitigation project was carried out in 1999, and since then the Penang government has been crying for help, but no financial aid was forthcoming.