The Star: RM5mil allocated to face floods, says Selangor MB
SHAH ALAM: The Selangor government has allocated RM5mil to be used in the event flooding occurs in the state.
Out of this amount, RM4 mil was from the Covid-19 funds contributed by the people and the remaining RM1mil was the state government’s allocation, said Selangor Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari.
He said the state government wanted to be fully prepared to prevent a repeat of last year’s tragedy.
Given this, said Amirudin, Selangor was 80% prepared to counter the floods.
Speaking to reporters after opening a two-day training and disaster simulation programme at the state secretariat Thursday (Sept 29), the Mentri Besar said the state had learnt much from last year’s regretful episode and will improve accordingly.
“The state government has issued directives to all federal and state agencies to be prepared for any flooding beginning from now.
“We want to prevent the loss of lives like what happened in the previous flooding incident,’’ said Amirudin.
The simulation and training programme were also aimed at improving the standard operating procedure, pertaining to rescue, in accordance with the National Security Council prerequisites.
“This is to enable disasters to be handled quickly and efficiently to prevent the loss of lives.
“In disasters, search and rescue must be immediately initiated,’’ he added.
Earlier in his speech, Amirudin said the state government has directed 15,972 personnel members from 67 federal and state agencies to be on duty to counter any impending flooding.
A total of 343 personnel members from the 67 federal and state agencies attended the programme, which began on Wednesday (Sept 28).
The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) had announced recently that eight out of Selangor’s nine districts have been identified as hotspots for any impending floods.
The Irrigation and Drainage Department had also said that only the Hulu Selangor district was not included in the hotspot list.
The other eight districts - Klang, Petaling, Gombak, Hulu Langat, Sepang, Kuala Langat, Sabak Bernam and Kuala Selangor - were all deemed as being flood-prone.
The department also identified 52 hotspots in the state that may experience severe flooding with 14 of the volatile spots being in Klang.
In last year’s flooding, 25 people lost their lives in Selangor and many families faced utter devastation with floodwaters destroying their homes and belongings.
