The Masjid Jamek mosque is flooded after heavy rain in Kuala Lumpur March 7, 2022. — Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
KUALA LUMPUR, March 9 — Opposition MPs today took turns bombarding the government with questions about the efficacy of the country’s flood management system during a special debate on this week’s deluge that crippled Kuala Lumpur city centre for two consecutive days.
DAP’s Bukit Bintang MP Fong Kui Lun, who had proposed the emergency motion for the debate, lamented that the government and Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) seemed to not have a clear plan of action to prevent flooding in the city centre.
“We are busy with land projects and developing high-rises, but we are rather lackadaisical when it comes to preventing KL city centre from flooding. What did the government and DBKL do after the incident where KL was hit by a huge flood in December 2021?
“Apart from the heavy rainfall causing flash floods, some areas are at risk of landslides and falling trees which lead to loss of life and property. This too is an issue. I appreciate the efforts of the Meteorological Department and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) in issuing early warnings to the public but how many of our rakyat are prepared and alert?” he asked.
Lembah Pantai MP Fahmi Fadzil also shared similar grouses, adding that the second bout of flash floods has led to a phobia among KL residents.
“This time, from what we see in Lembah Pantai, I am not sure about other places, the problem is recurring. Where is the water source? Residents who live in Kampung Pasir Baru have asked me: From December until now, what improvements have been made?
“Why is this issue happening again? Due to this, we have to watch the Meteorological Department every day as if we can’t do any planning as KL residents,” Fahmi said.
Subang MP Wong Chen said that 1,100 homes in his constituency were affected by last December’s flood emergency and the same thing happened again two days ago, adding that the losses were upsetting for the area’s residents who are mostly middle to lower income wage earners.
“I want to ask. Where is the post-mortem engineering report? That’s the most important thing!
“I want to ask this federal government: Allow your engineers to go down and do proper reports, then we can talk about mitigation,” he said, adding that his constituents are also still awaiting their flood aid payment from the federal government.
Puchong MP Gobind Singh pointed out that the issue of flash floods has been going on for years and asked the government for its plan to ensure the same issue does not arise in the future.
“In these three months, what action was taken? No action? How can this problem happen again, and will this happen again? The minister is here. I hope we get to the point. We need to focus on the problem. What are the solutions?” Gobind asked.
Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh, meanwhile, urged the government to channel more funds to DBKL to manage landslides that are usually triggered by heavy rain.
In response, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said that DBKL had taken the initiative to clear 12 locations where trees had fallen following this week’s downpour and that the work was completed on the same day, which was Monday.
He also denied that the flash floods were the result of the city’s six flood retention ponds not functioning properly, as alleged by Fahmi.
“In fact, the ponds were working with a capacity enough to retain the rainwater operations and operated under the set operation procedure,” he added.
However, Shahidan said that he was notified by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) that the Boyan flood retention pond in Sungai Bunus was unable to retain the rainwater, which exceeded its capacity and caused it to overflow to the surrounding areas.
He said the department is carrying out flood mitigation work following the incident.
On the efficacy of the Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART) highway tunnel, he said that the tunnel pumped out 1.15 million cubic metres of floodwater during its six hours in operation this week.
Shahidan added that DBKL had also placed 19 floating rubbish traps in KL rivers after the December 2021 floods, and that these are cleaned daily.
However, he admitted that due to the heavy rainfall, the trapped rubbish was swept away into other waterways, causing them to be obstructed.