Lawsuit may open the eyes of City Hall, minister to curb flood problem

23 Sep 2022 09:50am

Hannah (left) when met while surveying the maintenance work on the walkway at the Kepong Komuter Station on Thursday

KEPONG – Segambut MP Hannah Yeoh supports the intention of residents who want to file a lawsuit against Kuala Lumpur City Hall (DBKL) following the frequent floods in the city centre.

Yeoh said the lawsuit should pressure the City Hall as well as Federal Territory Minister Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim into taking positive measures to overcome the issue of floods.

She said the frequent floods in Kampung Kasipillay and the pools of water had caused losses for residents with the sum of up to RM30,000.

“The consolation money of RM1,000 received was not enough to cover the losses faced by residents.

“The residents’ decision to take action was good because it would pressure them to provide more feedback and measures taken by DBKL to overcome the issue.

“The issue had been brought up in Parliament many times however, the three-minute answers by ministers is not enough, time is limited and not sufficient even to ask additional questions,” she said when commenting on the issue of a claim notice filed by residents regarding the mitigation of floods.

Yeoh was met while surveying the maintenance work on the walkway at the Kepong Komuter Station on Thursday.

She said the residents no longer had the patience for the suggestion of an underground reservoir because of the lengthy time it would take to finish.

“Frequent river cleaning needed to be done, if it involved the issue of costs DBKL or any parties involved could provide a license for a sand dredging contractor.

“The method of solving it needs to change, it can’t remain with the standard procedure because climate change had changed the frequency of rain, the current maintenance is not efficient to overcome floods,” she said.

On Wednesday, the media reported former Malaysian Bar Association President Datuk S Ambiga with seven residents filed a claim against DBKL to obtain information on updated flood action plans.

The claim was written on Sept 19 and was shown to the Kuala Lumpur Mayor Datuk Seri Mahadi Che Ngah and Shahidan who needed to provide information in five days or face a lawsuit.