.jpeg "A man surveys the flood at the junction of Macalister Road (right) and Jalan Datuk Keramat in George Town November 5, 2017. u00e2u20acu201d Picture courtesy of Ang Joo Tat")
KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 6 — The federal government has only spent less than half of its estimated and allocated budget for flood mitigation projects in Penang over the past decade, the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry said today.
In a Parliamentary written answer to Lim Guan Eng (DAP-Bagan), the ministry said that although RM2.57 billion was approved and allocated by Putrajaya for flood mitigation projects, the real value of projects carried out to date was only RM1.04 billion.
However, the ministry said that it was not necessary for all of the funds to be spent on mitigation works as the funds approved were “ceiling estimates” for the projects that need to be carried out.
Lim, who is also Penang chief minister, had asked Putrajaya why it has not spent the total sum allocated for flood mitigation in Penang between the Ninth Malaysia Plan and the 11th Malaysia Plan.
The state was hit with massive floods over the weekend that killed seven people.
Almost 80 per cent of the Penang island were reportedly affected by the floods.
PKR’s Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin, in a press conference later on, urged Putrajaya to conduct a statewide problem mitigation to prevent a recurrence.
“There is a need to do flood mitigation all across the state. So far it has only been done in Sungai Pinang,” he said.
