SEGAMAT, Johor: After visiting a flood relief centre in Malaysia’s worst-hit state, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said on Sunday (Mar 5) that flood mitigation projects, especially in Johor, will be expedited and need to start from June.
The tendering process for the projects needs to be done as soon as possible, as the floods are a recurring problem, he said.
“If we don’t do anything serious to address this (flood) issue, it will happen again. This is not the first time, and it has been going on for years and sometimes twice a year,” he told reporters.
“As such, we decided that expensive flood mitigation projects worth RM600 million (US$134 million) and more will be expedited.”
Mr Anwar said the postponement of six flood mitigation projects before this was to avoid leakages in allocations to assist the people.
Even as thousands take shelter in relief centres, Mr Anwar maintained his government’s stance on not declaring a disaster emergency in Johor.
“The government’s decision to not declare a state of emergency is because rain has started to taper off and floodwaters have begun to recede in several places,” he said.
“Although there are also some places where the floodwaters remain stagnant, there is no need for a (disaster) emergency (to be declared) for now,” he told reporters after visiting a relief centre at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina) Kampung Tengah.
A Cabinet meeting on Friday had decided that there was no need for a flood emergency to be declared in Johor.
