KUCHING, April 26: It will not be fair if Klang Valley gets billions, which have not been budgeted for, for the proposed flood mitigation plan, while other places do not get the funds, although many projects have been approved in the numerous past Malaysia Plans.
Highlighting this, Senator Robert Lau has urged the federal government to be fair when allocating funds to deal with floods as the problem affects not only Klang Valley but also Sarawak and other states.
“Looking at the cost of the eight proposals to deal with the flood situation in Klang Valley alone, the budget for the whole country will be huge. The cost of flood mitigation will fall on the nation’s taxpayers.
“It should not be heavily skewed in favour of Klang Valley at the expense of other areas, especially those less developed like Sarawak, Sabah and Kelantan,” he said in a statement today.
Lau was commenting on a news report highlighting that eight companies have put in separate proposals to the federal government for flood mitigation projects in flood-prone areas located in the west area of the Klang Valley.
According to a national news portal, the project cost under the various proposals ranges between RM5 billion and RM15 billion to be carried out from 2023 to 2030. Further reported was a big jump in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021-2025), whereby RM1 billion was set aside for flood mitigation projects.
Lau cited the case of Sibu, situated along the longest river in Malaysia, which has been facing flooding problems since time immemorial.
More importantly, he said the first flood mitigation project started in 2008 is still incomplete today, while the bund along the river bank is not completed.
“What is the purpose of having an uncompleted bund? Water will still overflow the river bank to low lying areas. Phase 4 and 5 of the Sibu mitigation projects were approved so long ago, but the fund has not been allocated for the two phases.
“Similar complaints can also be heard throughout the country. I have regularly heard my fellow Senators from Kelantan and Sabah raising issues on floods and asking when the flood mitigation projects would be implemented,” he raised.
On the huge budget proposed for Klang Valley, Lau observed that the planning and budgeting have failed to match the reality of the need on the ground.
“Secondly, where was the long-term planning of 10 or 20 years ago to deal with floods? Such a situation is not something that is not foreseeable.
“The window of opportunities to get on top of flooding situations with long term planning is getting less by the day as the current situation demands more resources than is available. Therefore, a transformational shift is required to address the flooding issue. It won’t be resolved in the short term, but the plan and work for the long term still have to get started,” he said.
Expressing his concerns that the planning may be left to the private sector, Lau thus questioned if the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and the relevant ministries have the expertise to come up with the best plan or even to objectively assess the private sector plans and choose the best, with modification if necessary.
“This is where our civil service’s strength (or weakness) becomes apparent. For us to be facing floods regularly now is evidence of past inadequacies. We need to have the best talents to do the job.
“I hope our country can see the start of a transformational shift in how we deal with flood problems. The situation will only worsen with climate change,” he added. — DayakDaily
