A-G’s report: Many measures taken to mitigate floods, says Klang district officer

KLANG: Klang district officer Shahman Jalaludin says many measures have been taken to mitigate floods here since 2022.

“Relevant departments have been proactive and the district disaster committee meets two to three times yearly,” he said.

Shahman added that the flood mitigation task force also closely monitored flood-prone areas to ensure maintenance was performed.

“We have learnt from past experiences such as the massive flooding in 2021 and implemented the necessary,” said Shahman on the Auditor-General’s Report 2022.

The report was critical of flood mitigation projects jointly implemented by agencies such as the Selangor Drainage and Irrigation Department, Klang Municipal Council (now the Klang Royal City Council) and the Shah Alam City Council, among others.

It said flood mitigation projects in Klang only achieved a 50% success rate as well as other shortcomings such as overpayment to contractors; poor management and maintenance of drainage and irrigation conduits; non-gazettement of catchment ponds; lack of coordination among agencies involved; and the absence of written reports following inspections.

Shahman said for the Klang district office, he was very particular that written reports are submitted after every inspection.

“The reports are required for us to implement necessary action and keep tabs on the issue,” he said.

Academic Dr Tey Nai Peng, who was with the applied statics department at a public university, said one way to prevent financial overruns and glitches was to have more frequent audits.

“Auditing must be done at least once every six months both externally and internally, with internal audit departments of relevant agencies tasked to prepare and submit reports,” he said.

Another measure would be to make those at every level involved in projects and work implementation responsible.

He said if anything was amiss, appropriate deterrent action must be taken on those responsible such as imposing penalties, demotion or even sacking.

Klang Royal City Council (MBDK) environmental services department director Zaireezal Ahmad Zainuddin said extensive maintenance work was carried out by the council and other relevant agencies in 2023.

“I will go through all the reports and check them against the Auditor-General’s Report,” he said.