MOST flash floods that occur in the country are caused by sanitation issues such as clogged drains and drainage systems, says Deputy

Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Aiman Athirah Sabu. She said the matter required public awareness at the community level to jointly address the issue of flash floods.

“It is a wake-up call… like the recent flooding (occurring) in Kuala Lumpur and the real is- sue is clogged drains. So if we can increase public awareness (on the importance of cleanliness), that would be great,” she said during a question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat yesterday.

She was replying to a supplementary question from Wan Razali Wan Nor (PN-Kuantan) on the efforts taken by the Housing and Local Government Ministry together with other government agencies to resolve the flood issue in the long term.

Wan Razali also wanted to know whether the ministry was prepared to use a drainage system or water diversion technology like in Japan to overcome flash floods. To this, Aiman Athirah said the matter was being considered.

“It costs a lot of money, but that’s fine because that is something we pay attention to from time to time to improve our work in dealing with the problem of flash floods.”

To strengthen the effectiveness of flash flood management, Aiman Athirah said, the government had allocated funds to local authorities to upgrade drainage systems in flood “hotspots”.

She said these included projects to maintain flood reservoirs and drainage systems, at a cost of RM50 million and RM20 million, respectively, this year.