Sin Chew Daily

Prime minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said according to the Meteorological Department, last Saturday’s rainfall was equivalent to an average month’s rainfall, resulting in unprecedented floods in many areas in Klang Valley and beyond.

A check with the rainfall statistics reveals that the average rainfall for the month of December is 180mm. So, 180mm rainfall in a single day can be conveniently classified as a natural disaster that has displaced tens of thousands of distressed families across eight West Malaysian states, based on preliminary estimates.

If we were to include countless of vehicles and houses submerged in flood waters, the number of people affected by the weekend floods will be downright unthinkable.

Moreover, the rains will keep falling and history will be repeated year after year.

So, what has our government done actually? The SOP is to set up evacuation centers and financial relief for flood victims, additional holidays for civil servants and paid leave for employees, instant noodles and biscuits, private sector donations… and the list goes on.

Indeed, it is commendable that Malaysians are selflessly holding out their hands to help regardless of race, but shouldn’t the government do a little more than that?

The government should have ensured from time to time that our rivers and drains are unclogged, and flood embankments properly maintained.

If even Yu the Great of China during Xia dynasty managed to control the Yellow River floods using only human labor 4,100 years ago, why can’t we do the same today? We are either short of funds or the money is spent where it shouldn’t be.

In the “Keluarga Malaysia” Budget tabled by the government in October, a whopping RM223.5 billion out of a total allocation of RM332.1 billion has been set aside for civil servants’ remunerations and servicing of the government’s external debt interests, with only RM75.6 billion for “development expenditure”.

No amount in this “development expenditure” has been specifically allocated for flood control, although RM2.9 billion is specifically for the maintenance of roads and infrastructure as well as rural well-being projects; and RM3.5 billion for the continued implementation of national infrastructural projects.

So, flood control is not worth mentioning at all in the government’s development policy because we still have RM2 billion of emergency reserve at our disposal, which can be conveniently mobilized when a flood strikes.

If you have visited Kuala Terengganu and Pekan in Pahang, you should have been awed by the two big rivers traversing the town centers. It is common for the roaring waters of these two mighty rivers to come within a few feet from the river banks on calmer days. In the absence of embankments, a monsoon downpour upstream will easily cause the waters to swell and overflow their banks.

Malaysians generally have little knowledge about our rivers, but what about the authorizes? Do they know how may rivers we have in the 13 states, and the width and depth of each of them? What is the maximum rainfall upriver before cities and towns in the lower parts of the rivers get flooded? Shouldn’t we have built embankments in more densely populated downstream areas to stop the swelling waters? Is our urban drainage system regularly maintained?

If we don’t do any of these, then we can only put the blame on Mother Nature for the floods that could have been avoided.

In the Netherlands, almost half of the entire country’s land area lies less than a meter above the sea level. Although they are constantly fighting with the sea for land, floods are relatively unheard of.

As a matter of fact, human wisdom and determination can overcome the forces of nature. Shouldn’t this serve as an inspiration for a country relatively free of natural disasters like Malaysia?

Going back further in history, Yu the Great was commissioned by Emperor Shun to control the floods along Yellow River. He took cue from the failures of his father Gun. He built drains and canals to drain excess water and unclogged rivers and waterways to guide the water into the sea. During the 13-year course of fixing the flood problem, Yu took the measuring devices and tools with him to measure the rivers and chart the topographic features along the mighty Yellow River from west to east, and marked down the strategic points to help him plan his flood mitigation strategies.

That doesn’t sound very scientific, indeed. But the reality is, we are more than 4,100 years behind them!

If Yu the Great could tame the Yellow River floods, there’s no excuse we can’t do it today in Malaysia. It all comes down to how resolved we are in getting the work done!