KUCHING: Senator Robert Lau has called for a transformational shift in solving flood problems in the country.
He said that flooding has been a scourge for many Malaysians and not only those in the Klang Valley.
“It has recently been reported that eight companies have separately submitted flood mitigation projects for Klang Valley to the federal government.
“What caught my attention was the estimated cost of these proposals. They range from RM5 billion and RM15 billion to be carried out from 2023 to 2030.
“It was further reported that this was a big jump in the 12th Malaysia Plan (2021- 2025) where RM1 billion was set aside for flood mitigation projects. There was a big mismatch.
“There in lies the problem. The planning and budgeting have failed to match the reality, which is the need on the ground. Secondly, where is the long-term planning of 10 or 20 years ago to deal with the flood? Such a situation is not something that is not foreseeable,” he said in a statement on Tuesday (Apr 26).
He added 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.
“Thus, 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 has to get started,” he said.
Lau said that what concerns him is that the planning is left to the private sectors based on the eight proposals submitted.
“Does the Department of Drainage and Irrigation (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 the strength (or weakness) of our civil service becomes apparent. For us to be facing flooding regularly now is actually evidence of past weaknesses. We need to have the best talents to do the job,” he said.
He went on to say that the other concern is that flooding is not only a problem faced by the Klang Valley as many other places have been facing the same and even worse flooding and for even longer time.
“I just have to cite the case of Sibu, situated along the longest river in Malaysia, which has been facing flooding problems since time immemorial. The first flood mitigation project which started in 2008 is still incomplete.
“I have also regularly heard my fellow senators from Kelantan and Sabah raising issues on flooding and asking when the flood mitigation projects would be implemented,” he said.
He mentioned that the cost for the flood mitigation project will fall on the nation’s taxpayers.
“Looking at the cost of the eight proposals just to deal with the flood situation in Klang Valley alone, the budget for the whole country will be huge.
“I urge the federal government to be fair when allocating funds. It should not be heavily skewed in favour of Klang Valley at the expense of other areas, especially the less developed states like Sarawak, Sabah and Kelantan.
“Phases 4 and 5 of Sibu flood mitigation projects have been approved so long ago but the fund has not been allocated for these two phases.
“This is not fair if Klang Valley can get billions, which has not been budgeted for, while other places don’t get the fund although it has already been approved by the numerous past Malaysia Plans,” said Lau.
