MPs skipped their lunch break to remain in the Dewan Rakyat to debate the recent flash floods in the Klang Valley. They were told that measures are being taken to beef up the early flood warning system.

       The mood was calm for the most part as the Dewan Rakyat heard yesterday that RM160mil is required to improve the early flood warning system nationwide. A consultant has also been appointed to redesign Kuala Lumpur’s drains to help the city cope with flash floods.

       Deputy Environment and Water Minister Datuk Mansor Othman said the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) had identified infrastructure in flood-prone areas across the country that needed to be upgraded in order to improve the early warning system.

       This includes upgrading 516 existing siren stations and 155 existing webcam stations at an allocation of RM121.3mil and RM6.2mil, respectively, as well as installing 361 new webcam stations at a cost of RM32.5mil.

       “A total of RM160mil is needed for efforts to upgrade the sirens and the early warning system in order to tackle the issue of floods,” Mansor told the Dewan Rakyat during the emergency special sitting yesterday.

       Mansor also said that while the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) is capable of coming up with an early warning for floods, he admitted that there were weaknesses in predicting the specific locations that could be hit.

       He said that on the day of the flash floods, MetMalaysia had come out with the thunderstorm forecast for the Klang Valley as early as 1.35pm on Monday and even appeared on the Selamat Pagi Malaysia television programme to give the warning.

       Meanwhile, Federal Territories Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) has appointed a consultant to redesign the city’s drains so that they can accommodate an increase in rainwater.

       “The consultant has been asked to complete the study in twelve months,” said Shahidan, adding that this was part of a long-term plan by the DID to address Kuala Lumpur’s flash flood problems.

       Shahidan also denied a claim by Fong Kui Lun (PH-Bukit Bintang) that DBKL did not clean drains on a regular basis, stating that it has 19 waste traps at the city’s rivers which are cleaned on a daily basis. He added that of the 29 areas affected on Monday, floodwaters receded within 30 to 45 minutes in 25 areas while it took between one to three hours to recede in the other four areas.

       Earlier, Wong Chen (PH-Subang) asked for a post-mortem engineering report from the Federal Government on the cause of the flood. Meanwhile, Fahmi Fadzil (PH-Lembah Pantai) said Klang Valley folks are traumatised by heavy rain as the recent floods this week were the second to take place within three months.