Local authorities told to monitor public infrastructure in flood-prone areas

PUTRAJAYA: Local authorities have been instructed to monitor and carry out necessary improvements to public infrastructure in flood-prone areas following the transition to the North-East Monsoon phase from November this year to next February.

The Local Government Development Ministry said these included identifying drains, ditches, sewers and retention ponds that could cause floods and then carrying out cleaning and maintenance work to ensure smooth water flow.

“Development sites must also be monitored to ensure proper maintenance of water flow, such as flood retention ponds, and the development area is clean,” it said in a statement Saturday (Sept 30).

It said the North-East Monsoon Red Team has also been put on red alert so that it will be prepared to provide a quick response should its rescue services be needed.

The Red Team will be stationed in 11 states nationwide, namely Kedah, Penang, Kelantan, Perak, Terengganu, Selangor, Pahang, Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya, Negri Sembilan and Johor.

In terms of the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department’s (JBPM) preparedness, the ministry said the department has a total of 15,639 personnel, namely 13,435 full-time firefighters and 2,204 auxiliary firemen, with 80% of the personnel’s leave being frozen until next February.

“JBPM is also ready in terms of logistics, with 1,150 light transport vehicles, heavy transport vehicles and marine vehicles of various types to be used in facing the 2023 North-East Monsoon,” it said.

The JBPM has also identified about 4,795 flood hotspots through the open data from the Drainage and Irrigation Department as well as monitoring by all fire and rescue stations nationwide and, of the total, Sarawak recorded the highest number of flood-prone areas with 1,034, followed by Kelantan (595 areas), Pahang (554 areas) and Sabah (520 areas).

In terms of flood disaster management, the ministry said a post-flood waste-cleaning operation management plan has been prepared as a guide for all agencies involved to ensure the work management process of post-flood waste cleaning is more orderly and effective.

“The National Solid Waste Management Department, together with the Solid Waste and Public Cleansing Management Corporation and concession companies will always be ready to carry out post-flood clean-up operations based on the stipulated plan,” it said. – BK