KUCHING, Jan 5: Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman Lo Khere Chiang is telling Stampin MP Chong Chieng Jen to refer to the Ministry of Environment and Water (Kasa) regarding his recent calls for a flood mitigation plan.
Lo said flood mitigation is under the purview of the federal government and that the federal department responsible for flood mitigation is under Kasa.
“It is unbelievable that a three-term MP does not know that flood mitigation is under the purview of the federal government and that the federal department responsible for flood mitigation is under Kasa.
“He needs to go to Parliament to question his Pakatan Harapan (PH) counterpart, the Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) minister-in-charge of Kasa which is the ministry overseeing Federal Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID),” he said in a statement today.
Lo pointed out that all 23 local councils in Sarawak only take care of secondary drains, and flood mitigation projects involving major drainage reserves are undertaken by the federal DID in consultation with State DID.
“Any masterplan, if available, will be with DID. Why ask for a flood mitigation masterplan from a local council chairman when the MPP chairman himself (Lo) and all other council chairmen have to visit the DID to ask about flood mitigation plans?” he asked.
Lo said that local councils like MPP maintain existing drains with Malaysian Road Record Information System (Marris) funds allocated by the federal government as agreed under the Federal Constitution.
He also said Marris funds are grossly insufficient and the amount needs to be reviewed by the federal government.
“I have mentioned this in DUN (Sarawak Legislative Assembly) on a number of occasions where Chong was also present and it is recorded in the Hansard.
“I hope Chong will ask for a fair review of the Marris allocation to Sarawak. I would if I am in Parliament.
“The federal government via their federal agencies (federal DID under Kasa) in collaboration with DID Sarawak proposes flood mitigation plans for major drainage to accommodate secondary drains from housing estates which are maintained by local councils via grossly insufficient Maris funds provided by the federal government under the federal constitution,” he added. — DayakDaily
