KLANG: Authorities are urged to come up with a more comprehensive flood mitigation plan to prevent future catastrophic floods similar to those which occurred in Selangor, Pahang and Kedah.
In making the call, Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) said while high rainfall was certainly one of the main factors for the occurrence of floods in the country, it could not be denied that other factors were equally to blame.
The party's information chief Zakaria Abdul Hamid said unplanned development, maintenance failures such as clearing of rubbish and weeds in the drainage systems and periodic river deepening work, and the destruction of the environment in the name of economic development were also to be blamed for the floods.
He said political leaders should stop blaming each other and instead work together to find long and short-term solutions to minimise the impact of floods, especially in high-risk areas.
He proposed that the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) and local authorities (PBT) should get additional allocations for the cleaning and clearing of drainage systems, and deepening of rivers that were affected by erosion.
"To prevent floods in urban areas, more studies need to be carried out before any development is approved, while for rural areas, one of the main factors that need to be examined by the authorities is the problem of deforestation which occurs on a large scale due to agricultural development and logging," he said in a statement today.
"We also hope that the federal and state governments, as well as disaster management and environmental management experts can study and formulate a truly effective action plan to address the flood problem in the country."
New Straits Times
He added that PBM believed if a truly comprehensive and holistic action plan could be created, the nation will be able to address the current floods and also prevent them in the future.