With the highest number of areas that are at risk of floods in a district, the royal town of Klang and its residents may not be ready to meet the challenges of another climate disaster this monsoon season.
Incumbent MP Charles Santiago said the preparations to face the floods that he and residents staying at high-risk areas, as well as rescuers, have undertaken were also abruptly disrupted when Parliament was dissolved.
Charles’ repeated demands for the Election Commission to make clear its plans for that electorate - should flooding occur on polling day - have also been met with silence.
Elaborating on preparations that were interrupted by Parliament’s dissolution, he said these include a flood disaster simulation training for residents and rescuers that was the final stage of his three-pronged flood action plan centred around capacity-building for residents.
Charles said the simulation was based on experiences during the chaos that ensued last year in Klang, when neighbourhoods that had rarely or never been flooded were inundated with water.
He said the two-day training for 30 residents’ associations in Klang and 15 NGOs was to be conducted by the Civil Defence Department and it was in the final stage of preparation before it was cancelled.
“The simulation was to be held at a special location that could contain a body of water and was designed to test the readiness of residents and rescue respondents, giving them real-life training, but it had to be cancelled,” he lamented.
‘Residents must be ready to help themselves’
Charles and his team have already conducted flood walkabouts in Taman Bayu Perdana and Taman Melawis along Jalan Teluk Pulai with residents, surveying infrastructure and identifying flood-prone areas.
His team has also conducted capacity-building exercises so that the residents would be ready to act and help one another.
“In real life, when residential areas start to flood, it’s chaotic because, sometimes, even the first responders’ homes are flooded.
“So, it’s very important for residents to be ready to help themselves,” he explained.
Charles also added that he had secured the pledges of two residents who have boats that would be deployed for rescue operations should the floods occur again.
According to the National Disaster Management Agency, Klang has the most hotspots (14) and at-risk areas (65). Hotspots are areas that have experienced flooding more than three times since 2019.
After the major floods at the end of 2021, a meeting was held between residents’ associations of affected neighbourhoods and engineering experts to discuss climate change and the town’s drainage and irrigation system.
“Based on a discussion on the correlation between rising rainfall and the sea level, which are issues relevant to Klang, to the existing drainage and irrigation system in the township, an engineering consultant proposed a rethink of Klang’s system.
“However, his consultancy fee was RM350,000 and I have passed the proposal to the state assemblyperson with the infrastructure and public utility portfolio, Izham Hashim,” he said, expressing hope that the next person taking over that portfolio would take up the proposal.
Charles said the original drainage was designed exclusively for that respective neighbourhood and not with the intention of connecting one to the other, which is the case today.
This means water builds up as it drains from one neighbourhood to the other, potentially flooding the last neighbourhood before the river.
“This (drainage system) made it easier for developers but was not conducive to an infrastructure that could withstand increasing rainfall or be relied upon for flood mitigation,” he explained.
Residents near river mouth not recovered
Living at the fringes of the Klang River’s mouth, Mohd Jeffri, 35, said he has not recovered from the 2021 floods which inundated his home in Kampung Nelayan, Teluk Gong.
Jeffri said the water rose up to his chest height in 2021 and he pointed to a large pile of electrical appliances that were affected by the flood, including his television, stand fans and other household belongings, which he has not had the heart to discard.
He said the home, which he has lived in since he was a child, would routinely flood during heavy downpours.
“Nowadays, within five minutes of a heavy downpour, the water rises to a foot high.
“But this is because the drains are not even a foot deep,” Jeffri said, pointing to the drain in front of his house that is covered with wild vegetation and no longer visible.
“They asked us to remove the cars, and we did, but they only cleared the large monsoon drain nearby but not the small ones in front of our houses,” he said with disappointment.
Water entered his home again on Oct 12 but he was spared when the Port Klang Jetty flooded five days later. When contacted yesterday, Jeffri told Malaysiakini that he is preparing for floods expected tomorrow (Oct 20).
The drains along the entire stretch of Jalan Teluk Gong, the single-carriage main road flanked by industrial and residential neighbourhoods, were equally shallow and similarly clogged with vegetation and rubbish.
Rubbish skips along the Jalan Teluk Gong overflow, along with the uncollected household wastes.
Despite being listed as one of the 65 locations in Klang at high risk of flooding, Kampung Teluk Gong does not look prepared.
Floods in Telok Gong after the 2021 disaster have also affected the industrial tenants in the area.
A pallet factory, which has never been hit with a flood before, was inundated for the first time in April due to rising sea levels owing to climate change, Charles said.
A crocodile displaced by floods
At the Nelayan Jetty nearby, the Fire and Rescue Department warned children not to bathe in the river anymore after a crocodile was spotted in the area.
Ejan Abu, a boatman who ferries fishing enthusiasts to nearby kellong (offshore wooden platforms) from the Nelayan Jetty, said swimming in the river every evening was his favourite pastime when he was a kid.
“Now, because of the flooding and high tide, the crocodile was displaced. There are many crocodiles in the Klang River and they probably lost their way.
“But we can’t take any chances with the lives of our children,” Ejan added. - Mkini
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