KUALA LUMPUR, July 9 — The government has allocated RM950 million under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) for flood mitigation and relief, Parliament was told today.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, also Energy Transition and Water Transformation Minister, said of that amount, RM410 million was allocated to conserve rivers to lower flood risks.
He said the remaining RM540 million is for the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) for the restoration of flood-damaged structures.
“The distribution of the allocation is based on the needs of each state,” he said during an oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PN-Pengkalan Chepa) about the allocation to each state’s DID to overcome flash floods due to improper drainage.
Fadillah said drainage is managed by various parties including the DID, local authorities, district offices, the Public Works Department, and developers.
Referring to the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, he said the responsibility to build and maintain drains lies with local authorities, but that his ministry will work with agencies to ensure proper drainage.
For standardisation, he said the Cabinet in 1996 assigned internal drainage systems, including artificial or municipal drainage systems, to local authorities, and natural drainage systems (rivers and streams) to the DID.
He said RM316.3 million has been allocated to the Sarawak DID for flood mitigation in 17 Kuching, Betung, Mukah, Miri, Limbang and Samarahan areas.
“This project is in the procurement process and is to be finalised by the Finance Ministry… I hope that with this project, we can reduce flooding in affected areas,” he said.
He said this in response to a supplementary question by Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri) about the government’s approval of allocations for Sabah and Sarawak to deal with floods in the states.
— Bernama
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