Yes, time to take DBKL to court over floods

 

YOURSAY | ‘DBKL has lost control of the flood issues plaguing KL for decades.’

KL residents sue DBKL after 'poor' reply on flood mitigation

Apanama is Back: It’s good to know that eight Kuala Lumpur residents have filed a legal suit against Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) and Federal Territories Minister Shahidan Kassim. Otherwise, these little Napoleons will not wake up and live up to their responsibility.

DBKL does not know the real root causes of the flood. They may blame the rain volume and development, or may even say it is an act of God, but did they explore the root causes? I do not think so.

The eight KL residents should not give up on this flood mitigation matter. They need to go all out even to the extent of citing DBKL and the mayor for contempt of court if they do not follow the court order at a later stage. Good luck and best wishes!

Dr Raman Letchumanan: Kuala Lumpur floods every time it rains heavily and is getting worse year by year. The city could come to a standstill for a week due to the impact of the floods.

Now DBKL is building permanent structures along rivers to stop river overflow, learning from the great success of sandbags, and for the longer term, building underground hydrological storage reservoirs.

Of course, the millions spent on building the Smart Tunnel, sucked out from toll charges, is no match for the current downpour and raging floods.

At the other end of the spectrum, DBKL approves the destruction of hills and green watershed areas to be replaced by compact high-density buildings. All these are done in a hush-hush manner, and become known only when the approval is given and clearing takes place. The standard reply thereafter is that it will cost billions in taxpayers' money to terminate the contract/approval. How nice.

It seems Kuala Lumpur city planners stand out as the most competent and intelligent in how to prevent floods and destroy green areas at the same time. In my years of environmental management, this is one aspect I have never learnt.

Malaysia should get a Nobel prize for city planning where the environment and destruction can go hand in hand. What climate change nonsense the world is talking about? Learn from Malaysia. Our financial model also works splendidly. DBKL just needs to raise taxes by a swipe of the pen for all flood mitigation and preventive efforts. If there is no spending on floods, how can contractors get paid, generate business, and keep the economy going?

Developers can turn relatively inexpensive green areas into billions of profit while channelling rainwater into the city.

You see, the only suckers are the city residents. They pay for overly priced residences and to keep those residences from being flooded or washed out. Like these city folks, who are educated and rich, they can make all the noise they want, even cast their votes to the opposition, but who controls Putrajaya makes the call.

This uniquely Malaysian model of (un)sustainable environmental management and the fail-proof economic/financial model gets repeated all over Malaysia.

That is why even if our economy is in the doldrums and the ringgit plunging, we have seen a proliferation of forest destruction all over the country for all kinds of development/purposes. But the government knows best - call elections when Malaysia is flooded so that they can remain in power despite the misery of the people.

For every disaster, there is an opportunity. What a democratic country, where the will of the people determines their government. Some people call it corruption and abuse of power, but no, we are battle-hardened to turn corruption into a virtue for the sake of development and people's welfare.

In any case, I am astonished at the audacity of civil servants in government agencies like the Environment Department (DOE) and the local authorities that can continue to carry on this modus operandi.

From court cases, we know the cosy relationship in the name of political/welfare donation whitewashing between politicians and developers. And I guess civil servants are emboldened because they are protected by politicians from the enforcement agencies like MACC.

Those unfortunate to be caught can be saved by the ubiquitous 'representation' we have seen in the last few years. And the few good ones get hounded for whistle-blowing. Just look at an unrelated case of doctors exposing the special medical treatment of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Long live Malaysia, its natural heritage, its forests, its birds and bees. Now you see it, now you don't.

Cyclonus: DBKL has lost control of the flood issues plaguing Kuala Lumpur for decades.

Flooding occurs when existing drainage systems are under capacity to accommodate the water discharge and/or due to poorly maintained outlets, resulting in it being clogged. The discharge situation arises when fast development causes rapid high-water concentration in low-lying areas, hence flooding.

Developers, who are probably in cahoots with politicians and senior government officials, disregarded the advice of their technical experts in place of commercial gain. Concerning clogged drains, it is a matter of poor maintenance.

But I feel the cause is primarily because of the overdevelopment and the total disregard it has for the existing drainage infrastructure for monetary gain.

Cogito Ergo Sum: For far too long, taxpayers have been taken for granted. In the face of rising costs and flood waters, it is the right of every taxpayer to be in the know where their tax ringgit/dollar goes. It is a fundamental right.

The courts are the final forum for the public to get a fair deal and we hope will provide the final avenue for justice. It’s time the administration realised that they no longer can avoid being accountable.

Justice: I hope the court will ensure the requirements of environmental laws are strictly complied with by the authorities, and also transparency and public participation in the environmental impact assessment (EIA) study and the approval of the EIA report process are upheld by the court.

If not, the authorities, politicians and ministers will as usual be sleeping on their job and will also tend to easily compromise with vested interests who give them political donations. - Mkini