Turkeys of the Year: Flood Blame Game

[ad_1]

In the late 1980s, a catchy song by disgraced pop dance group Milli Vanilli titled Blame It on the Rain hit the charts. The song comes to mind amid the public fury at the lack of a swift and coordinated response from the powers that be to the flooding in Klang Valley over the weekend of December 18.

The uninterrupted rain that began on Friday, December 17 and lasted more than 48 hours, inundated 33 districts in eight states and displaced 62,999 people, as of December 21. Torrential rains caused by Tropical Depression 29W killed 37 people as of December 24.

While the flooding in the lowlands of Klang, Shah Alam, Ulu Langat and Sepang in Selangor have gained the attention of mainstream and social media due to their location in the more urban Klang Valley, the situation in Pahang could be equally bad.

According to data from the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), more than 9,993 families, comprising 33,764 people, have been relocated to 240 evacuation centers in Pahang, against 5,492 families or 23,216 people in 118 centers. evacuation in Selangor on December 24.

In the aftermath of the rains and floods, authorities were immediately singled out for failing to warn residents of the rising waters caused by overflowing rivers and drains.

On social networks, Internet users criticized the weather service for not having monitored and informed the public of the situation. Its chief executive Muhammad Helmi Abdullah responded by saying that he had provided information and warnings on continued rainfall since December 11.

Then, many questioned the role of the unknown Nadma in coordinating flood rescue efforts.

It seems Nadma is not the only agency responsible for disaster response. Prime Minister Datuk’s department minister, Dr Abdul Latiff Ahmad, told parliament in September that the responsibility for managing a flood response is shared between local, state and federal governments.

Nadma’s Director General Datuk, Dr Aminuddin Hassim, then clarified last Tuesday that a meeting of the Central Disaster Management Committee was held on September 13, chaired by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob, during from which the intervention agencies had already been entrusted with their tasks.

There are three levels of disaster management, the first involves a locality within a district, the second when more than two districts of a state are involved, and the third involves two or three states. So everyone is aware of this, he said at a press conference in Taman Sri Muda last Tuesday, according to a report from Bernama.

Aminuddin added that in the event of a state-level disaster, the Secretary of State would chair the State Disaster Management Committee and be responsible for mobilizing all agencies involved to deal with the situation.

He also denied media reports that Nadma was reluctant to involve the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) in the relief efforts because the state of emergency had not been declared.

In response, the Chief of the Defense Force, General Affendi Buang, issued a statement, telling everyone to stop the blame game. Instead, he stressed the need for greater cooperation between government agencies to ensure the safety of flood victims.

In fact, some of the points of the finger were also directed at the flood victims.

According to Nadmas Aminuddin, many residents of Taman Sri Muda, Shah Alam, one of the worst affected areas of Selangor, initially refused to leave their homes when rescue teams knocked on the door.

They were reluctant to leave, believing it would be just another flood, as the area is prone to flooding due to its location below sea level. News clippings with photos of the area submerged in water from 1995 have made the rounds on social media, along with claims that the area was originally intended to be a flood water retention area but has somehow transformed in a subdivision.

This prompted calls for a public inquiry to reveal how housing projects were approved in a flood retention area.

Another problem that has made the news is that of defective pumps in Taman Sri Muda. According to the Selangor assembly member for Kota Kemuning V Ganabatirau, the Selangor government approved 10 million ringgit in 2020 for the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) to repair pumps and other facilities in order to reduce the impact of flooding.

This was not done in Taman Sri Muda, apparently, although there was a temporary pump in November which was not sufficient during the floods of December 18.

In the midst of all finger marks, there were a lot of Good Samaritans and non-governmental organizations who went out into the field to help the flood victims. A few lawmakers such as Muar Syed MP Saddiq, Hannah Yeoh (Segambut) and Ong Kian Ming (Bangi) have also been involved in the rescue efforts, as the images on social media show.

And last Tuesday, Ismail admitted the weaknesses in the government’s response to the floods.

I don’t deny (the weaknesses) and I will improve [on them] in the future, he said. The responsibility is not only that of the federal government, but also that of the governments of the states and the front lines, [which] are the neighborhoods.

There are many lessons to be learned from this disaster. For one thing, don’t take Mother Nature for granted. It is said that with climate change, extreme weather events will be more frequent in the future. Are we prepared for these events? There may be heavy rain today, but dry weather tomorrow. Have policymakers, town planners and property developers taken these factors into account?

The Turkey of the Year award goes to finger pointing and handing over responsibility following the floods that hit many states in Peninsular Malaysia over the weekend of December 18.

As the Milli Vanilli song continues Whatever you do don’t blame yourself / Blame it on the rain, yeah, yeah / You can blame it on the rain, in reality surely that’s not the way to go those who are charged with the specific responsibility of making sure things are running while keeping people safe.

[ad_2]