A NIGHTMARE for the 800,000 people who live and work in Shah Alam. This week alone, the New Klang Valley Expressway (NKVE) was closed twice, both during peak hours, due to flash floods.
On November 2, Plus closed both directions of the NKVE between Kilometres (KM) 9.1 and 9.4 at around 6.20pm, just as thousands of city workers were leaving their offices.
Early Wednesday morning, floodwaters once again submerged KM9.1, forcing Plus to close all lanes until after the morning peak hour, in addition to several routes along the Guthrie Corridor Expressway (GCE) and North-South Expressway Central Link (Elite).
The Shah Alam Toll Plaza area was previously inundated in December 2021 and November 2025. Now, the same incident has happened twice in a single week.
Supporters of the state government will, of course, blame the unusual rainfall and the Federal Government's flood mitigation projects. Unfortunately, such arguments hold little weight, as Pakatan Harapan (PH) has been governing Selangor for 18 years.
Datuk Seri Amirudin Shari has also served as Menteri Besar since 2018 and personally oversees the Disaster Management portfolio following the major floods in December 2021.
The Shah Alam City Council (MBSA), an agency under the state government, is responsible for approving development and drainage plans in the city. Since May 2018, PH has also been leading the Federal Government in Putrajaya, leaving no other party to blame.
Last April, the Sultan of Selangor reprimanded the state government over its annual flood allocation, saying it had yet to produce results.
A day later, the State Infrastructure executive councillor admitted that some state flood mitigation projects would need another four years to be completed.
The Shah Alam MP also confirmed that the Shah Alam Toll Plaza, Kampung Melayu Subang and Section 13 are located along the Sungai Damansara Flood Mitigation Plan (RTB), a project scheduled for completion only in July 2031.
On November 3, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim personally visited Kampung Melayu Subang and instructed that the Sungai Buloh and Sungai Damansara flood mitigation projects, worth nearly RM700 million, be expedited.
Amirudin, who was also present, pledged to review the state's flood mitigation projects, including contracts awarded as early as 2015 that have yet to be completed.
A day earlier, on the first day of the NKVE closure, Amirudin announced an allocation of about RM800,000 for immediate flood mitigation works at the i-City interchange, Section 7 and Taman Rashna in Klang.
That amount is not even enough to buy a terraced house in Bukit Jelutong, where the median transaction price has exceeded RM1 million this year.
The Bukit Jelutong residential area has also exposed the state government's attitude towards green spaces. This week, Threads users widely shared the story of a 28-hectare green area next to the Tengku Ampuan Jemaah Royal Mosque, which was approved for a 425-unit housing project.
Residents described it as a water catchment area. They also told the media in 2023 that they had escaped the devastating 2021 floods thanks to the green space.
However, MBSA approved the project's planning permission on September 6, 2023. Two months later, more than 1,000 residents gathered to protest, including former Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Muhammad Muhd Taib, who revealed that the land had been reclassified from green space to residential use.
The authority to change land-use conditions and approve development plans rests with the state government. The area's assemblyman, who also attended the protest, is none other than Selangor's Disaster Management executive councillor.
I live in Shah Alam and am certainly not asking the state government to perform miracles. Selangor residents simply want to be able to return home without first having to check the water levels of Sungai Damansara.
After 18 years, PH and its ally Amirudin have still failed to deliver on the most basic responsibility to the people: their safety.
The views expressed in this article are the author's own and do not necessarily reflect those of Sinar Daily.