Selangor officials must take the blame for Sri Muda floods

 

From Taman Sri Muda Flood Survivor

Much has been said and debated on how ridiculously hopeless the country is about quickly saving lives in responding to natural disasters such as the devastating floods that inundated Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, last month.

Much has also been said and debated on how the various local authorities were waiting for time-wasting meetings to take place, for instructions to cascade down from the higher-ups before deciding to move their idle, collective derrières and relocate affected residents to safer grounds.

Much has also been said on how the less classy, less elite “Taman Sri Muda” suddenly became the politicians’ favourite search location on their navigation apps: none of them previously gave a rat’s ass about fixing the perennial flood problem despite numerous past complaints.

Much has also been said about opportunistic politicians who decided to promote their pretty faces on aid boxes and on banners to trumpet to the whole world that they care for the devastated residents in Taman Sri Muda. The time taken to print the boxes and banners could have instead been used to quickly channel aid to the desperate residents.

Dealing with officials

Let me relate my experience in dealing with three officials in Selangor last year about the clearing of land surrounding the Taman Sri Muda area.

As a resident directly affected by the Taman Sri Muda floods, the inaction regarding my repeated complaints has definitely left a sour taste in the mouth.

Sure, the recent floods cannot be solely attributed to land clearing but even an elementary school student would know that fewer trees and shrubs would cause rainwater to flow down the soil at a faster rate instead of being absorbed into the earth.

Selangor menteri besar

Multiple messages, pictures and videos were sent to the menteri besar on Oct 1 and Oct 2 about land cleared for farming. It is a mystery how such activity was approved near a residential area. The loud noise from the generator at the site is severely affecting the residents’ quality of life.

More details were also sent to the menteri besar’s official Twitter account from September to October but no response was received. An online petition to the menteri besar has garnered 100+ signatures so far.

Executive councillor for environment

Similar messages and videos were also sent via WhatsApp to the executive councillor in charge of the environment from August to September. Other than the initial reply in August stating that the complaint had been forwarded to the Department of Environment and to Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), all other messages thereafter received no response as well.

A civil service engineer

An engineer of the drainage and irrigation department eventually blocked me on WhatsApp, despite my sending a valid complaint in October on the unnecessary land clearing surrounding the flood retention pond in Taman Sri Muda.

It was apparently called “sand dredging” to help with the flood situation in the area, which we all know now was an unintelligent decision as the floods this time were even worse than in the past.

Do the right thing

While we residents of Taman Sri Muda rebuild our lives, it is our fervent hope that officials in the Selangor state government will do the right thing, do their jobs and stop any further land clearing and land development.

It has been noticed that a new land-clearing activity is being done currently near the Ideal Convention Centre area of Shah Alam. Stop the rape of every piece of unused land they can see, and stop wantonly approving licences for greedy commercial reasons.

The officials must stop the rampant land clearing or live with blood on their hands from the recent loss of lives in the Shah Alam floods. - FMT

Taman Sri Muda Flood Survivor is an FMT reader.

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.