SHAH ALAM: The frequency of flash floods in Selangor is expected to be reduced significantly by the end of next year, a state executive councillor has assured.
Infrastructure and Public Amenities, Modernisation of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry committee chairman Izham Hashim said this would be following the completion of all pending flood mitigation projects in a year’s time.
“I’m aiming to complete all these outstanding projects by 2019. Flash floods will still happen, they happen everywhere, but we will minimise them,“ he told reporters at the state legislative assembly, here, today.
Izham attributed the state government’s failure to complete more than half of the state mitigation projects since 2014 to land and river encroachments, saying these have caused many of the works to be interrupted.
“Many quarters have encroached onto state land meant for these flood projects, and this needs to be addressed. But we don’t want to take drastic actions that can be deemed as cruel.
“We decided in a recent meeting to give these people, who are involved in illegal constructions in these reserved land, alternatives including providing them affordable housing.
“And if they still refuse to listen to us, then we will take action by demolishing whatever constructions they have there,“ he said.
Izham was asked to comment on the recently-released Auditor-General’s Report 2017 (Series 2) which claimed that only 33 of 75 flood mitigation projects by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) have been completed between 2014 and 2017, resulting in floods continuing to occur in those areas.
Commenting further, Izham said for future projects, the state would ensure that any land issues would be resolved first before any plans to build the projects proceed.
“We don’t want instances where we have started on a project, suddenly there are issues of encroachment like what we are facing now. We will take this new approach of settling the land issues first,“ he said.
