Mp Slams Shahidan For Drama After Visiting Flood Mitigation Project

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The opposition has questioned the effectiveness of a short-term flood mitigation project where sandbags were used as temporary flood control measures and staff on lookout were stationed at hotspots in a bid to stop flash floods in the capital.
Speaking with Malaysiakini, DAP’s Kepong MP Lim Lip Eng slammed Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim for staging a “drama” after a trip arranged by the minister for five lawmakers from Kuala Lumpur to visit the flood mitigation measures on Wednesday.
“He is a ‘drama’ minister. What century is it…? How can anyone use sandbags to prevent floods? Just placed them at a certain stretch of the riverbanks and beside the drainage system? What if the entire stretch is hit by floods?” he said.
Lim said these measures were meaningless and for Kuala Lumpur City Hall to erect tents at 23 locations manned by duty staff was a waste of resources.
“The measures adopted by the authority were outdated. How can the government tell the staff to stand by at the tent for potential flash floods between 8am and 10pm? What if a downpour starts after 10pm?
“I was informed there are 23 tents like this in Kuala Lumpur where the staff will be working in morning or night shifts until August. Why not just rush to the area when a flood hits? It is ridiculous to have people sit there all day,” he said.
DBKL tent at one of the flood hotspotsLim said authorities should instead regularly clean up blocked drainage systems and carry out work to deepen the rivers.
“Actually, what I want in the site visit is for us to know more about the new groundwater storage tunnel project announced by the minister previously, not to visit these sandbags. We want to know where it will be built, but he appeared unable to provide an answer.
“There are plenty of flood retention ponds in the city, and what he (the minister) should do is upgrade and maintain existing ponds instead of building a new one,” he added.
Lim, together with his colleagues in DAP, Teresa Kok (Seputeh) and Fong Kui Lun (Bukit Bintang), as well as PKR’s Tan Yee Kew (Wangsa Maju) and Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai), were invited by Shahidan to visit the flood mitigation project in the capital on June 15.
They visited four flood hotspots - Jalan Ampang, Jalan Rahmat, Jalan Kasipillay and Jalan Dutamas.
The trip came about after Lim questioned why the minister went silent after an initial invitation on June 5.
Shahidan Kassim (third, left) showing Lim Lip Eng (fourth left), Fahmi Fadzil (third, right), Tan Yee Kew (second, left) and Teresa Kok (right) flood mitigation worksDrainage system unable to cope
Last week, Shahidan said DBKL would conduct a feasibility study on the location and specifications for a high-capacity groundwater storage tunnel, which will be completed in three months.
Besides the groundwater storage tunnel, Shahidan said that the government would be building retention ponds for the medium term while temporary measures would be adopted.
The temporary measures included placing sandbags as makeshift flood walls, and the installation of water pumps to ensure a smooth diversion of water into rivers when it rains.
Kuala Lumpur has been facing flash floods more regularly since last December.
Shahidan discussing flood mitigation project with KL MPsMeanwhile, Kok acknowledged that the Federal Territories Ministry and the City Hall are serious about determining the cause of the flash flood.
This is despite her uncertainty about the effectiveness of the short-term flood mitigation measures.
“He’s right, actually. The city is overdeveloped, and many of those projects were not approved during Shahidan’s era. This is the problem left by his predecessor, Tengku Adnan Mansor,” said Kok.
Kok, however, disagreed with the move to station officers and tents at certain hotspots.
“It is better to have them rush to these places when it is going to rain,” she said.
Meanwhile, Fahmi pointed out that the majority of the drainage system in Kuala Lumpur, constructed between the 1970s and 1990s, is unable to cope with the volume of water flow.
He said DBKL’s Civil Engineering and Drainage Department should be given more allocations to re-evaluate the entire drainage system and rebuild it if needed.
Instead of having officers stationed at these tents, Fahmi said it would be better if they conducted an assessment of the drainage system and identified the ditches that need to be repaired. - Mkini

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