Flood-related issues dominate Johor Assembly debate session

ISKANDAR PUTERI, March 20 (Bernama) -- The flood disaster which hit the state since Feb 28 has dominated nearly all the debates by assemblymen during the sitting of the Johor State Assembly which enters its third day today.

The debate brought by Datuk Zulkurnain Kamisan (BN-Sri Medan) who was also a flood victim when his area was hit by the worst disaster in 40 years two weeks ago, captured the attention of the assembly.

 He also recalled the history of floods in Sri Medan, Batu Pahat, since the first flood he experienced in 1986.

“After 20 years, we were hit by floods again in 2006. Then, after 17 years, we faced flooding, twice in 2023 alone,” he said during the debate at the First Meeting of the Second Session of the 15th Johor State Assembly here.

He said although the state representatives had repeatedly asked for allocations for development, he was of the view that was meaningless as all development in the area had been destroyed in just two weeks.

In his debate, he expressed hope that the state government would hold a post-mortem on the floods and identify the causes.

Zulkurnain also suggested that the state government consider the construction of the Sri Medan Dam and informed the assembly of the latest developments in the construction of eight water pump houses in Sungai Simpang Kiri.

He also requested that the agencies involved expedited assistance to flood victims as a large number of people lost their property as well as their source of income.

Sharing a similar sentiment was Datuk Dr Sahruddin Jamal (PN-Bukit Kepong), who hoped that the state government would learn a lesson from the disaster.

“Establish a special flood disaster management task force comprised of relevant agencies and departments, experts, and people's representatives from the government and balancers. Draft a blueprint that reflects the state government's planning on this issue,” said former Johor Menteri Besar.

Dr Sahruddin also hoped the mitigation project to reduce the risk or flood impact announced by the government needs to be given attention due to extreme global climate change.

“All this for the future of the state and the people. Therefore, the state government should learn from the situation and act immediately as soon as the disaster recovers,” he said.

Meanwhile, Balancer head Andrew Chen Kah Eng (PH-Stulang) supports the establishment of the Climate Change and Flood Management Committee proposed by Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi yesterday.

“I am confident that this committee can help Johor face the challenges of floods due to monsoon and heavy rain, in addition to establishing bipartisan cooperation,” he said. 

Following the floods which hit Johor on Feb 28, more than 85,000 people in 10 districts statewide were affected by the disaster.

-- BERNAMA