Bernama 3 Jan 14;
KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 3 (Bernama) -- Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad has suggested that the first floor of buildings and houses be raised in order to prevent floods and reduce damage from the recurring disaster in the future.
He said the first floor - lobby or entrance hall - of a building should be raised to about 12 feet or more above the level of the street or the road, with concrete walls surrounding the space below the first floor extending down to surround the car park below the building.
In the latest post on his blog at www.chedet.cc, Mahathir also said that a ramp must be built from the road to the entrance of the building on the first floor and another ramp for the cars to drive down to the multi-level car park below.
"The road or street will become virtual drains during the floods due to the rain or the tide. This will help the floodwaters to drain quickly into the canals or rivers as soon as the tide goes down or the rain stops," he said.
On the east coast where floods regularly occur during the monsoon rains, Mahathir said, the simplest solution was to go back to building houses on stilts like the old Malay houses.
"The first floor of the houses must be above the highest floodwater mark. The stilts supporting the houses must be sturdy and buried deep in the ground. Concrete should be used," he said.
To avoid cars from 'drowning' during the monsoon season, Mahathir said, a ramp could be built so that the cars could be driven up to the first floor.
He said the government had spent quite a substantial amount of money for flood relief and, by insisting that houses be built on stilts, the money would be saved.
"Part of the savings can be used to subsidise the cost of the stilts, at least initially. The house-owners or occupants too would save money," he said.
Mahathir said that if the idea was to be accepted, architects could design the stilts to look attractive while competitions could also be held for new styles of houses on stilts.
"If we don't do something, every year thousands will have to be evacuated and a few will lose their lives. And lots of money would be wasted on food, evacuation and repairing flood damage," he said.
Last month, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Sarawak were hit by floods following incessant heavy rain and the overflow of rivers in several areas, forcing thousands of residents to be relocated and incurring much damage to property.
-- BERNAMA
