PETALING JAYA: The state assemblyman for Taman Sri Muda has disputed a minister’s claim that the tidal gate there was in working condition at the time of the disastrous floods last month.
Not so, says V Ganabatirau, whose constituency of Kota Kemuning includes Taman Sri Muda.
He said the Taman Sri Muda tidal gate was faulty and the pumps were not serviced, contrary to the statement earlier today by environment and water minister Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man.
He said the water pump had worked well before the floods; however, it could not be used without electricity supply as Tenaga Nasional Berhad had cut off power to the area.
Ganabatirau said the minister might have been misinformed. “When I visited the place on Dec 23, I realised the shaft was broken. Also, on Dec 21, a photo of the non-functioning tidal gate went viral. In response, state executive councillor Izham Hashim said that the shaft was bent so they couldn’t open the gate,” he told FMT.
He said Izham and officers of the drainage and irrigation department had shown him the faulty part of the tidal gate.
Now the solution is to upgrade the tidal gate pumps, as the residents have requested. “The water could have subsided much earlier if the pump had been working. Because repair was delayed, the water was stagnant in Taman Sri Muda for more than seven days,” he said.
“And also, if the Klang river had been cleaned properly, the water level of the floods would not have been as drastic,” Ganabatirau said, adding that the river has not been cleaned since the 1995 floods.
Yesterday, Amanah president Mohamad Sabu had demanded an explanation on why the army did not blow up the damaged water pump to release the flood waters. “A damaged bund can always be repaired. If we can spend billions of ringgit on repaying interest on 1MDB debts, why can’t we spend far less on building new bunds?” he said in the Dewan Rakyat. - FMT
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