Khalid: Punitive action may be taken
‘We’re considering penalties for contractors responsible for Sunday’s flash floods’
KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Territories Minister has warned that punitive action may be taken against construction sites which he said could have caused the flash floods in the city on Sunday.
Minister Khalid Abdul Samad said there are many development projects in the capital city and not everything can be supervised constantly.
“I have discussed with the (Kuala Lumpur city) Mayor and we will take action to ensure all clogged drainage (perparitan) will be taken care of so this doesn’t happen again,” he told reporters at the Parliament lobby yesterday.
Khalid added that the downpour on Sunday was heavy but the current upgraded drainage system was designed to withstand (high levels of ) flooding.
“What we need is to monitor construction sites more and we may even think of punitive measures to be taken against such contractors if their work affects or clogs the drainage system,” he added.
Several areas and roads were affected by flash floods on Sunday after almost two hours of downpour in Kuala Lumpur.
Kuala Lumpur City Hall enforcement department director Azman Mahmood said the rain, which began at 4pm, saw water build up in the tunnel heading from Jalan Tun Razak towards KLCC and Jalan Loke Yew.
Several vehicles and their drivers were also stuck in a flash flood in the Jalan Tun Razak tunnel.
On social media, many shared photos of a motorist sitting on his car, which was almost fully submerged in flood waters in the tunnel leading from Jalan Tun Razak down to the KLCC carpark.
An alert driver quickly climbed out of his car’s window to safety minutes before his car became submerged.
The man identified as Teh, 26, said he was really scared and decided to stay put by sitting on his Honda Civic’s roof before rescuers came.
“I did not expect the trapped pool of water to be so dangerous as there was a lorry in front of me ... sudden- ly water started seeping into my car so I quickly wound down my window and climbed out.”
The Fire and Rescue Department, which received a distress call about the incident rescued the victims, who were sitting on top of their cars to escape the flood.
DBKL Transportation-Department director Abd Hamid Surip said they would be contacting the contractors of construction sites near the underpass, where the flood took place.
“I want to see what kind of activities are going on in the area surrounding the underpass and if it may have caused the flood. I am still waiting for the detailed report on the incident, so I cannot comment on it yet,” he said.
When contacted Kuala Lumpur Mayor Nor Hisham Ahmad Dahlan said he went down to the tunnel (from Jalan Tun Razak) on Sunday evening.
“My preliminary observation on the cause of the flash flood was due to development happening around the area,” he said.