Declare state of emergency if necessary to tackle floods, says DAP

The declaration of a 'state of emergency' by Putrajaya may prompt the large-scale coordinated effort needed to cope with what's said to be the worse floods in the country's history, says MP Tony Pua. – bombaFB pic, December 25, 2014.Putrajaya should mobilise all available resources to mitigate the flood situation, even if it means declaring a state of emergency, said a DAP lawmaker.

Petaling Jaya Utara MP Tony Pua.said operations should be set up in areas which may be severely affected in the event of continuous downpour.

"If a 'state of emergency' needs to be declared to ensure such large scale coordinated mobilisation, then Putrajaya must immediately declare a 'state of emergency'."

Pua said if the federal agencies remained lackadaisical and showed little sense of urgency, then Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak should return immediately.

Najib was pictured enjoying a round of golf with United States President Barack Obama at the Marine Corps Base course in Kanehoe Bay, Hawaii.

More than 90,000 Malaysians, so far, have been displaced by floods in five states, the highest in the nation's history.

Pua called on the National Security Council to demonstrate leadership to tackle the worst floods in Malaysia's history.

"There has been almost no demonstration of urgency from the NSC," Pua said in a statement.

"All we have heard two days ago was NSC secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab warning people against spreading false rumours regarding the flood situation.

"Thajudeen was only interested in the formalities of the process of calling for a state of emergency by claiming that it could only be declared by Najib," Pua said.

"Worse, instead of informing the public what are the proactive and concrete efforts Putrajaya will undertake to manage the disaster, he was more concerned with going after those responsible for starting the rumours once the flood in the east coast had abated."

Pua said although the Finance Ministry has just announced a RM50 million allocation for the flood victims to ease their burden with emergency aid, it did not solve the various problems on the ground.

- TMI