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City Hall's arrogance confronts nature

This appeared in my Chiaroscuro column in malaysiakini (www.malaysiakini.com) today, 30 October 2001

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malaysiakini

30 October 2001

City Hall's arrogance confronts Nature

CHIAROSCURO
MGG Pillai

Yesterday, Kuala Lumpur town centre flooded in three metres of water after flash floods in heavy downpour -- as six months ago. The Klang river recorded 120mm of rainwater in 90 minutes, the Ampang river 88 mm and overflowed their banks at their confluence with the Gombak river.

Thousands of cars were trapped in underground carparks, those on the roads, with or without their drivers, caught as floodwaters consumed them. Bumper-to-bumper traffic added to the problems, and office workers came to find their cars submerged or floating in the water.

Much was promised after the April floods; little was done. What caused the floods in April caused it yesterday. And cause future floods.

Yesterday morning, City Hall briefed the media on how it plans to control the expected heavy monsoon floods it expects next month. Three hours later, it was faced with this disaster. City Hall insists, as in April, it was at all times in control. How, when all it could was nothing?

The photographs in today's newspapers is yet proof of bureaucratic bungling, political chicanery, corruption, cronyistic behaviour, inefficiency all combine to make people suffer.

Defying Nature

The only game in town was development, with nature and its forces defied with impunity. The arrogance of the time, the early years of the Mahathir leadership, knew no bounds, and woe betide any who questioned or predicted nature's fury at some future date. City Hall is in rigor mortis when floods hit Kuala Lumpur, its impotence writ in its explanations.

It need not have. But it neither consults residents nor seek advice about development which leads to floods and other disasters. City Hall need not approve any development the Prime Minister's Department decides is good for Kuala Lumpur, to add to its impotence.

It does not account for its actions, dismisses any worthwhile proposal if some one else proposes it, has become arrogant, inefficient, corrupt as any government department or statutory body. Since few would criticise City Hall, as more should, and the government protective of its wrongdoings, yesterday's flood was no accident, and City Hall contributed to it.

It was Nature's fury waiting to happen. In the 1970s, Kuantan Port was built to defy Nature. Political decisions overrode technical doubts and fears. It is but unusable now, the repairs so far double its cost to build. The technical reasons were brushed aside, hundreds of millions of ringgit expended.

The arrogance of wealth from oil had not hit Malaysia, and politicians, including the then Prime Minister, still counted pennies, and agreed to it, as others like it, reluctantly.

Today's problem of flood control in Kuala Lumpur had its roots then. This belief that wealth from oil would obviate proper conduct, with actions on disaster still decided in arrogance, not in City Hall alone, over how what must is done.

There is no will to correct the wrongs of official policy. City Hall knows, we are told, what it talks about; if floods or other disasters hits Kuala Lumpur, it insists it is in control. But it does not attempt to right the damage. The problems of the April floods is but a dim memory; it says it is ready for next month's expected monsoon floods, but is shocked at yesterday's floods.

The terrifying price of neglect

The political decision to concentrate development in the Kuala Lumpur city centre, when it should have spread that around the 93-km city, defies, not accommodates, Nature, to feed the avaraciousness of cronies and party hacks who cut corners for filthy lucre.

That neglect exacts a terrifying price. With the seat of government shifting to Putra Jaya, Kuala Lumpur is not as important as the wasteful superstructures built or planned there. The priorities are wrong, but no one cares.

But one problem no one talks of. Despite promises of a Malaysia flush with money, and projects worth billions of ringgit announced with abandon, there is no money in the kitty. Once the Petronas cash reserves helped; not any more.

Its oil production is sold forward for ready cash, for ten years and more, and it underwrites the cost of Putra Jaya that can run into RM100 billion and more; individual ministries built so far cost tens of billion ringgits each. The official residences of the prime minister and deputy prime minister cost almost RM500 million. We still do not know how many billions it would cost to rescue the privatised companies that have all collapsed.

Nothing therefore would change. The floods would come two or three times a year, causing hundreds of millions of ringgit damage each time. Insurance companies baulk at what it must pay out, and now look at the floods as "Acts of God", the catch-all phrase to evade paying out compensation.

But would the government, and City Hall, compensate those caught inadvertently in flash floods, like yesterday's? If it happens twice or thrice a year, would not the flash floods be accepted as a way of life, with no attempt to alleviate it? What causes the treacherous floods now is the pylons built in the middle of the three rivers flowing into Kuala Lumpur for the privatised elevated tolled highways. and attract flotsam and jetsam to block the waterflow.

A heavier than normal rain overflows the river banks . Since City Hall does not, as a rule, keep the rivers free flowing, it just makes each flash flood worse than the last one. How much worse it would have been if the Klang was covered with a linear city built over it, as a crony had wanted.

M.G.G. Pillai
pillai@mgg.pc.my