Malaysia must learn to live with deluges

Prepare for more surges
M. Veera Pandiyan, The Star 20 Dec 07;

We must accept that existing mitigation measures are no longer effective. Radical changes are needed in our preparedness for floods, taking global weather change into concern. It's a cliché but what we need is a paradigm shift.

Malaysia must learn to live with the deluges by devising long-term plans.

THE year is coming to an end, just the way it did last year – wet, wet, wet. As of yesterday, 30 people had been reported dead in floods, and close to 40,000 in Johor, Pahang, Kelantan and Kedah forced to flee their deluged homes.

When the floods hit Johor last December, climate experts issued grim warnings. More such disasters could be expected, they said, because of changing global weather patterns.

There would be higher than usual rainfall over the next two decades and the experts warned the Government to be prepared to face massive floods such as the one that hit the country in 1971.

Even the soothsayers saw it coming at the start of 2007, the Year of the Fire Pig in the Chinese zodiac.

A popular on-line Chinese astrologer predicted: 2006’s “furnace” of Yang fire (Bing) has dimmed to a flickering “candlelight” Ying fire (Ding) for the Fire Pig Year of 2007. While the Fire factor will still be present, the hidden element is Water.

Now that we are back on the same old boat, let’s acknowledge our malady of selective amnesia. We have been there and done that, but we can’t quite remember to get it right when troubles recur.

Yes, the response to the floods has been fairly quick. Rescue of those trapped in areas cut off by rising waters, supply of relief aid to victims via army trucks, boats and even helicopters, have been laudable, although help from the country’s major profit-raking corporations has been shamefully slow, unlike last year.

But when it comes to planning ahead and being ready, it has been the same sorry story. There were red alerts from the Meteorological Services Department like last year but for most of the victims, the water rose too fast.

They only had time to save themselves. The furniture, appliances and other basic belongings had to be abandoned. For the poor, this means new hire-purchase debts all over again.

In 2006, the murky waters flushed down an estimated RM1.2bil. It’s still early days to assess the latest losses in ruined roads and railway links, bridges, power stations and a wide range of businesses, including fish, prawn and oyster farms and from crops like palm oil and rubber. To make things worse, a second wave is likely to lash the east coast states soon.

While the task at hand is to ensure speedy delivery of relief and prevent a potentially bigger blow in the form of water-borne diseases, the Government should also start focusing on ways to counter dangers from cataclysms that are yet to come.

We must accept that existing mitigation measures are no longer effective. Radical changes are needed in our preparedness for floods, taking global weather change into concern. It's a cliché but what we need is a paradigm shift.

We can no longer regard floods as unavoidable natural banes. There must be proactive plans, like reviewing the extent of the country's mutilated topography and upgrading its entire drainage network.

We should also think about designing buildings that can withstand periodic inundation, like the new designs for schools in flood-prone areas, currently being drawn up by the Education Ministry.

The International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (SDR), the UN’s body for preventing disasters, says the number of hydro-meteorological hazards – hurricanes, typhoons, droughts and floods – have risen sharply over the past three decades.

Between 1995 and 2004, such scourges killed 890,000 people, disrupted 2.5 billion lives and caused losses of US$570bil.

That works out to a staggering RM1.9 trillion – twice the value of Malaysia's current annual external trade.

Perhaps we can take a leaf out of how seriously Britain is looking at the problem after parts of the country were badly hit by flooding during the summer months.

Sir Michael Pitt, an independent reviewer appointed to study the floods wants girding up for floods to be accorded the same priority as planning for “terrorism or pandemic flu.”

In an interview with BBC’s Radio 4, he said floods were likely to get worse with global warming and that Britons must learn to adapt accordingly.

The Pitt Review made 87 recommendations, all of which were agreed to by British Environment Secretary Hilary Benn. They include having the public act more responsibly, introduction of more flood-resilient buildings and preventive efforts by local authorities.

It listed lessons to be learnt from the floods and highlighted existing failings of the government, including the lack of a national flood emergency plan, no clear responsibility for dealing with urban flooding and no systematic stockpiling of emergency equipment, such as boats.

At home level, it proposed emergency flood kits for potential victims – batteries, radio, torch, mobile phones, rubber gloves, cleaning materials, emergency contact numbers of local councils and other services, antibacterial gels or wipes, first aid boxes and blankets.

The British government has since pledged up to £800m (RM5.4bil) a year by 2011 for flood preparation programmes. Whopping, as it may seem, the amount has been dismissed as “too low” by the insurance industry.

Back to Malaysia, where clamour to set up royal commissions of inquiry into an array of contentious issues is the order of the day, it might be a bit far fetched to expect the appointment of an independent reviewer to study floods and make recommendations.

But with torrential rains expected annually, we have no choice but to start drawing up practical and enduring mitigation plans, whatever the cost.

M. Veera Pandiyan, Deputy Editor, New Media, who was born in the year of the Water Goat and lives on the 11th floor of an apartment, empathises with flood victims.


Najib: School calendar to be adjusted if flooding continues
The Star 20 Dec 07;

TUMPAT: Students in flood-affected areas may get to enjoy longer school holidays if the situation does not return to normal, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said.

He said this was because some schools were flooded while others had been turned into flood relief centres.

“We'll make adjustments to the school calendar if necessary,” he told reporters after presenting food aid and cattle for Hari Raya Haji at SK Bunohan here yesterday.

The year-end school holidays will end on Jan 1 for some states and Jan 2 for the others.

Najib said 28 schools in Kelantan were affected by the floods which began to hit the state on Dec 8.

More low-lying and coastal areas are at risk of being flooded while the situation in the affected areas may worsen with the high tide phenomenon forecast to start on Friday.

The Meteorological Department had said the high tide would peak from Dec 23 to 26 and was expected to last until Dec 29.

Najib advised those living in such areas as well as near rivers to exercise caution as the sea level may rise and contribute to more flooding.

He reminded parents to keep a close watch on their children and prevent them from playing in floodwaters as most of the 29 flood fatalities in Kelantan, Pahang and Johor were children.

Najib said he was satisfied with the management of relief aid in Kelantan, thanks to close cooperation between the federal and state government. – Bernama