KUALA LUMPUR – After being bombarded by a barrage of questions on the recent flash floods here, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim today took to drawing comparisons between Barisan Nasional (BN) and the previous Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, irking his opponents.
Speaking in the Dewan Rakyat, the Umno lawmaker, on a number of occasions, heaped praises on his government’s handling of the flood while taking a dig at PH, which helmed Putrajaya for 22 months after the 2018 general election.
Among his baffling remarks was when he said he and several other agencies were already on the ground running, even before waters rose during Monday’s flash floods, drawing laughter from several MPs.
Shahidan recalled how he was in Parliament that evening when Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob told him about the extraordinary downpour.
He said he immediately rushed to two evacuation centres, with dozens of people having already registered themselves there before the numbers ballooned when the floodwaters began inundating several residential areas.
“This shows that we are already on the ground before the flood even happened,” he said.
Fahmi Fadzil (Lembah Pantai-PH) was heard bursting out laughing through his microphone and said this was impossible.
Ignoring his opposition peers, Shahidan went on to say: “These (BN) ministers are a bit of a different quality from PH’s. We place our thinking on the fact that we should evacuate (residents) before the floods.”
Shahidan was responding to several MPs who raised questions on the Monday flash floods, which inundated large parts of Kuala Lumpur and other areas in the Klang Valley, after Dewan Rakyat Speaker Tan Sri Azhar Azizan Harun approved an emergency motion to debate the issue in the House.
Malaysia’s flood management among ‘best in the world’
Later on during his speech, Lim Lip Eng (Kepong-PH) had asked if Shahidan stood by his statement made in 2013 that Malaysia’s flood management system was the best in the world.
The Arau MP replied, saying this is evident by looking at the flood response of other countries, insisting that several approaches taken by the government since that time have made Malaysia among the best on this front.
Among others, he claimed that the practice of evacuating residents before a flood occurs had started in east coast states like Kelantan.
“When the flood did happen, no boats were needed, because everyone was safely evacuated by car.
“Only after a day or two after they moved out would the water rise.
“It was also during this time that we introduced the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma). As such, our flood management system went on smoothly and efficiently.”
For the record, Nadma was only formed in late 2015.
BN had to clean PH’s mess: Shahidan
Later on, Shahidan would again take a dig at PH after Teresa Kok (Seputeh-PH) asked if the current government has repented and will no longer approve high-density projects in the city centre without first assessing the traffic and drainage situation.
To this, the Umno lawmaker said: “Yes, we have repented after seeing the failed leadership of PH, which has forced us to make so many new changes to correct the situation.”
“PH ruled for 22 months, and a lot of things were not done. So now, we have to fix them,” he said.
Kok then challenged Shahidan to list out the names of items that were left unattended by PH, which the latter said was unnecessary.
Earlier, he also said the people should be thankful to Ismail Sabri for approving the increase of government cash assistance for victims of natural disasters from RM500 to RM1,000 effective September last year.
“This is quite extraordinary. There should be a message of gratitude to the prime minister, who has done this amazing work,” he said. – The Vibes, March 9, 2022
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