KL 'not blaming Singapore' for Kota Tinggi flood

The Sunday Times, February 4, 2007




MALAYSIA'S Environment Minister said yesterday that it is not his government's view that Singapore's reclamation activity contributed to the floods in Kota Tinggi.

Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, who was in Singapore for an annual environmental meeting, said the claim 'is not conclusive. It didn't come from us. So it's not an official government view'.

He made the remarks to reporters when asked to comment on Johor Chief Minister Abdul Ghani Othman's claim last Tuesday that massive land reclamation works by Singapore at Pulau Tekong at the mouth of the Johor River had contributed to the floods in Kota Tinggi.

Datuk Seri Azmi conceded that Malaysia had not been ready for the massive floods, which displaced more than 120,000 people.

'The amount of rain that came was much, much higher than the highest rainfall in the past 100 years. We were not ready for this kind of thing,' he said.

His delegation met officials from Singapore's Environment and Water Resources Ministry, led by Minister Yaacob Ibrahim, yesterday.

One salient issue which surfaced at the meeting was the haze problem.

Said Dr Yaacob: 'We're all equally concerned because this year there is a likelihood of an El Nino year. It'll be a dry year. If the haze comes again, we will have to be able to put our plans quickly in place.'

He said both countries have agreed to work closely to combat the haze problem.

Other areas that were discussed included the control of vehicular emissions and the joint monitoring of water quality in the Strait of Johor.

This is the 20th time that the environment ministers of the two countries have met under the Annual Exchange of Visits framework. Dr Yaacob said the two sides had a good meeting.

Meanwhile, reports from Johor said Malaysia's government plans to implement measures, possibly as early as this year, to prevent a recurrence of the devastation caused by the recent floods.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the government's flood mitigation plan will scrutinise the condition of rivers and drainage facilities across the country, especially in the worst-hit areas where flood waters remained stagnant for weeks before receding.

'We will have to look at all these problems that cropped up,' he told reporters yesterday while touring Kota Tinggi district, which was almost completely inundated during the monsoon season.