Afif slams Anwar's review of RM7 billion flood mitigation projects

 

Shah Alam Bersatu deputy chief Afif Bahardin has accused Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim of putting bureaucracy ahead of pressing matters that greatly affect the people at large.

This is over Anwar’s decision to halt and review the RM7 billion flood mitigation projects approved during the Perikatan Nasional administration, which Anwar said were awarded via direct tenders.

According to Afif (above), all principles of transparency and rules were followed during the discussions on flood mitigation projects.

However, he said, the discussion processes were accelerated as climate change, especially floods, were an “urgent issue”.

“Anwar's ‘cancellation of approval’ not only delays efforts to protect the welfare of the rakyat and the country but is also acting with malicious intent on Perikatan Nasional (PN), which was accused of not complying with the principle of transparency.

“During the tragedy of the floods in December 2021, with Shah Alam being the worst affected location with losses reaching RM6.1 billion (0.4 percent of the GDP) nationwide, Pakatan Harapan in Selangor itself considered declaring a climate emergency.

“So, when Pakatan Harapan has formed a unity government at the federal level, have they ignored the consideration of the climate emergency and want to prioritise bureaucracy?” Afif said in a statement today.

The massive floods that hit Selangor in November this year

He also questioned if Anwar consulted Selangor Pakatan Harapan prior to his decision.

Afif decried that Anwar could not possibly cancel the “approval” of the flood mitigation projects as the projects were never approved.

“The term ‘approval’ he used is not accurate because, according to the statement of the former minister of environment and water Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man, he had never signed any Letter of Acceptance to any party to continue the flood mitigation projects.

“So there is no question of ‘cancelling approval’ because there is no black and white legal document binding the government on the projects,” he said.

‘Anwar’s understanding of floods limited’

Afif, who is the Seberang Jaya assemblyperson, further added that Anwar’s understanding of “flood mitigation projects” was “limited.

“It (flood mitigation projects) is not just a matter of building the physical aspect of flood mitigation but covers the entire disaster management ecosystem that needs to be developed for the safety of the people.

“This includes upgrading MET Malaysia’s (Meteorological Department’s) system and organisation, as well as early flood warnings to users, the most important aspects of disaster management.

“MET Malaysia is the most important agency when the whole world, including Malaysia, faces the risks and effects of climate change. It is no longer a weather forecasting agency but plays a key role in issuing warnings to start the work of protection and management of all aspects of the crisis of weather and climate change.

“Because of that, before GE15 took place, in August 2022, Tuan Ibrahim had announced additional allocations to MET Malaysia to empower it in the efforts to deal with the issue of climate change,” he said.

Afif said that PN was confident it had not overstepped the principles of administrative transparency, but improved it by reducing bureaucracy.

“This is because Malaysia, at that time, was hit by various disasters - from the Covid-19 pandemic to the effects of climate change that the country had never faced before.

“The question is now, under the administration of the Harapan-BN mixed government, will we return to the process of prolonged meetings without immediate decisions on urgent issues that will affect the welfare of the people and the benefit of the country?” he questioned.

PKR deputy president and Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli

Previously, during the GE15 election campaign, PKR deputy president Rafizi Ramli - who is now the economy minister - claimed that RM2 billion in flood mitigation projects were bulldozed without tender.

Tuan Ibrahim denied this and is suing Rafizi on this matter.

Meanwhile, Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz, who was finance minister in the previous government and is now the international trade and industry minister, had said that approval for the RM2 billion was done by the book. - Mkini