See: Have political will to resolve serious, flash flood issues in S’wak

See Chee How

KUCHING (Jan 6): The federal and Sarawak governments have to show their political will and commitment to resolve the serious and flash flood issues in Sarawak and the country as a whole, says Batu Lintang assemblyman See Chee How.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob must make it his priority to confront the “bureaucratic, foot-dragging and dilly-dallying”, to ensure that all federal-funded flood mitigation projects in the country are implemented immediately.

“Last month, the prime minister acknowledged that there were weaknesses in flood management on the part of the federal and state governments and the various authorities such as the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

“However, his federal administration has yet to come out with a national policy, strategic plan or programme to stop, mitigate or manage the problem,” he said in a statement yesterday.

He added that Ismail Sabri, who previously held various ministerial portfolios and has served as a full federal cabinet minister since 2008, ought to have plenty of personal knowledge and experience with the federal government struggling to cope with serious flooding across the country during each monsoon season.

“What is urgently needed from the prime minister and his administration is a review of the national policies on river and water resource engineering, the development and application of strategies for the management and drainage of rainwater in urban areas to efficiently manage and control flooding, including the strict national compliance and enforcement of the Urban Stormwater Management Manual (MSMA) in urban land development projects,” he said.

See said that in Sarawak, one of the projects which is of particular urgency is the implementation of the federal-funded Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Project (PLSB), and Kuching City Flash Flood Mitigation Project which was approved in 2013 but has yet to be implemented.

“Over the previous years, it has been revealed and reiterated that the RM150 million PLSB Sungai Sarawak project had been approved and funds allocated to upgrade major drain outlets in certain areas, including Sarawak General Hospital at a cost of RM15 million, Jalan Batu Lintang (RM20 million), Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho (RM25 million), former Federal Quarters at Batu Lintang and Jalan Ong Tiang Swee (RM15 million), Sungai Tabuan dredging works (RM2 million), Taman Malihah (RM22 million), Sungai Tabuan, SK Muara Tuang and Unigarden.

“The Jalan Laksamana Cheng Ho drainage improvement work was proposed to be incorporated into the Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Project in 2018 as the implementation of the initially included Kampung Bedil to Kampung Lintang’s component has been undertaken by the Sarawak government,” he said.

He said the implementation of the PLSB Sungai Sarawak project appears to have been neglected and overlooked by the federal and state governments, and that the open tender of these separate flood mitigation projects had been delayed time and again.

“We need the prime minister and his federal administration to show their political will and commitments to resolve the serious flooding and flash flood issues by resolving the federal bureaucratic foot-dragging.

“The immediate implementation of Sungai Sarawak Integrated River Basin Project will be a test of their resolve and determination.

“I must therefore call on the chief minister to direct the federal cabinet members from Sarawak to immediately seek clarification with Putrajaya on the progress of the implementation of these Kuching City flash flood mitigation projects,” said See.

from Borneo Post Online https://bit.ly/3G230EL
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