MPs question met dept’s failure to alert public to floods

 

Klang MP Charles Santiago says the meteorological department would have been aware that the freak weather was coming. (Facebook pic)

PETALING JAYA: The opposition has questioned the unpreparedness of government agencies for the destructive weekend floods that wreaked havoc in the Klang Valley, parts of Pahang and several other places.

They are asking why the meteorological department, for example, failed to alert the public a week or two beforehand.

Speaking to FMT, Klang MP Charles Santiago said the department would have been aware that the freak weather was coming.

“Why did it keep the information to itself? It should have informed the rakyat on the tropical storm so people could have been prepared,” he said.

Santiago said other authorities such as the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) should have set up hotlines for use by people needing help.

“The anger among flood victims is unthinkable. They have lost everything from furniture and electrical goods to valuables.

“They don’t have money to buy kitchen equipment to cook.”

Subang MP Wong Chen called for a probe, saying: “We need to get to the truth of the matter. Was there a forecasting failure on the part of the meteorological department or is it a case of a communication breakdown among the various agencies and authorities?

“Someone has to be accountable.”

The devastation might not have been as bad if an early warning system had been effective, he said.

He urged the government to set up a royal commission to document what went wrong and to use the findings to improve flood management and rescue efforts in future.

“I am sure that climate change contributed to the intensity of these floods. As such, we have to be better prepared for the next big one,” he said.

Parti Sosialis Malaysia chairman Dr Michael Jeyakumar Devaraj asked if SOPs were followed when dammed water was released into the rivers.

He said the water was released at night and the affected residents might not have known how severe the effect might be. “Residents were taken by surprise as the water kept rising.”

He said warnings should have been issued to them.

Seputeh MP Teresa Kok told FMT she believed government agencies were not equipped to handle the floods, noting that they brought misery to thousands of people.

“Nadma’s response was slow, too,” she said. - FMT