GEORGE TOWN – DAP secretary-general Lim Guan Eng has called on the federal government to decentralise efforts to mitigate floods by increasing allocations to states.
With an increased allocation, the states can focus on mitigation, relief, rescue, and recovery aspects, said the Bagan MP in a statement.
“The state governments should be allotted with an annual allocation from RM100 million or 20% of the states’ respective tax contributions,” said Lim commenting on the recent floods in Peninsular Malaysia.
He noted that the disaster has highlighted the comprehensive failure of Putrajaya when it comes to mitigation, rescue, relief, and recovery management.
At least 54 victims were lost and economic losses totalled to around RM20 billion, said the opposition lawmaker after flagging off a state party convoy on their way to offer aid to Pahang residents.
“Nothing highlights the failure of the federal government more than the disappointing performance of the prime minister and ministers who were either uninterested or uncaring and completely at a loss not knowing what to do.
“Who can forget the ridiculous optics of the prime minister refusing to step down from his car when visiting flood victims or minister Rina Harun cleaning up an already clean area instead of the mud-filled homes of flood victims?
“Worse, specialised disaster management agencies like the National Disaster Management Agency disclaimed responsibility and pinned the blame on the state governments.
“This is a systemic failure of both leadership and administration structure of the federal side,” he asserted.
Furthermore, Lim added that there must be a paradigm shift from the present “unworkable model” where Putrajaya tries to conduct rescue operations from the comfort of an air-conditioned room.
Seeing that the federal government has “proven its incompetence and inability” to deal with a national-level flood crisis and then laid the blame on state governments, it is only logical for the state administration to take over such tasks, the opposition lawmaker said.
Under this decentralisation proposal, he also recommended that the federal government provide the necessary funds to the various state governments to fund the initiative.
He stressed that such financial contribution would not adversely affect the federal budget as it involved channelling existing allocations for the federal government ministries to the respective state governments.
“This means that state governments will oversee drainage, flood mitigation works including hill slope maintenance, disaster relief, rescue and recovery in cleaning up and normalising life for flood victims with the required financial assistance.
“When the big flood occurred in Penang in 2017, the state government stepped up and took over not just rescue and relief works but also recovery management.
“Unless decentralisation is adopted, the sad cycle of Malaysians literally ‘drowning’ in flood disaster management failure will be repeated interminably with no end in sight,” he said – The Vibes, January 19, 2022
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