Buyers can soon check for flood-prone areas before getting properties

 

Energy transition and water transformation minister Fadillah Yusof said the portal is expected to be accessible to the public by the end of 2024. (Bernama pic)

PETALING JAYA: House buyers will soon have the option of checking a portal that maps out flood-prone areas before purchasing their homes.

Energy transition and water transformation minister Fadillah Yusof said the portal is expected to be accessible to the public by the end of 2024.

Fadillah said his ministry, through the irrigation and drainage department (DID), had been developing a portal to provide information on areas nationwide that are prone to floods.

“The DID has conducted engagement sessions with state governments, federal agencies, the housing and local government ministry, as well as the private sector since 2023 to explain the benefits of sharing flood information with the public,” he said in a written parliamentary reply.

He said, based on the engagements, the stakeholders had provided positive feedback and agreed that flood incidence maps be shared with the public to prevent buyers from purchasing homes in areas at risk of flooding in the future.

Fadillah was responding to Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man (PN-Kubang Kerian), who asked if the ministry was prepared to disclose information on flood risk for each housing project to the public.

Previously, the Public Accounts Committee had criticised the government’s lack of progress in its RM1 billion national flood forecasting and warning programme (PRAB).

PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin took the ministry as well as the DID to task for failing to fulfil the requirements under the RM129 million first phase of the programme.

Mas Ermieyati’s comments followed a PAC meeting on Jan 16, at which the committee said the RM129 million spent by the government on phase 1 of PRAB was not justified because of its inaccuracy in forecasting floods and reporting flood water levels.

The ministry had said the first phase of PRAB had in fact successfully developed hydrological data and flood warnings that were used by several government agencies to manage the floods, including the National Disaster Management Agency, the Civil Defence Force and the police.

The ministry said the public was also warned of impending floods via social media and text messages. - FMT