KUALA LUMPUR: The recent flash floods that affected several part of Kuala Lumpur were not classified as a "disaster" but deemed an "incident", says Dr Zaliha Mustafa.
"I had called for a meeting with the Selangor state disaster management committee to get a briefing on real time operations carried out by the various agencies.
"The situation that day was not deemed a disaster but was categorised as an incident," the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Federal Territories) said when replying a question raised by Onn Abu Bakar (PH-Batu Pahat) in the Dewan Rakyat on Thursday (Oct 24).
She was referring to the incident on Oct 15 which saw heavy rain resulting in flash floods in several areas of the city including triggering a landslide in Taman Melawati.
According to the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia), the flash floods were caused by the movement of a squall line that brought in thunderstorms and heavy rain.
Dr Zaliha informed the House that heavy rain on Oct 15 began at about 8.15am and ended at about 10.45am.
"This meant that the downpour lasted for about two-hours and 15 minutes.
"Officers from the Irrigation and Drainage Department and the Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) acted swiftly to be on the ground to help divert and disperse access water.
"It is not accurate for YB Batu Pahat to say that they were slow to respond.
"The emergency response time was according to the standard operating procedures and the situation was brought back to normal within two hours," she added.
On a separate matter, Dr Zaliha said that DBKL is working together with several other agencies in preparation of Malaysia assuming the Asean chair next year including Visit Malaysia Year 2026.
She said this includes sprucing up the city and flood mitigation programmes.
Among the flood mitigation projects, she said, included maintenance of 15 flood retention ponds.
She added that 14 flood mitigation projects were earmarked for the city this year with four more planned for 2025.
Of the 14 projects, she said two were completed while four were in progress with the remainder at the tender stage.
