A Kajang resident cleaning up after a flood last year.- Filepic
Kajang Municipal Council (MPKj) will be setting up operational rooms to channel aid to people in the event of a disaster in the municipality.
“Such rooms are needed to coordinate movements by volunteers and ensure there are no overlaps in operations,” said MPKj president Najmuddin Jemain during the full board meeting yesterday.
“This was one of the lessons learnt after last year’s floods. NGOs and volunteers entered an area without informing the council, causing unnecessary traffic which delayed our aid.
“The operational rooms will be set up to assign volunteers to areas requiring assistance,” he said.
“The Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) and Public Works Department (JKR) will also be assisting in flood matters such as repairing damaged roads and deepening rivers.
“The council will discuss further with local community leaders to identify flood-prone areas,” he added.
Najmuddin said Kajang town was not flooded as badly now after upgrading work on Sungai Jelok.
“Last year’s post-flood problems were made worse by clogged drains, so the council will ensure the drainage is clear,” he assured.
He also said the public should be more mindful when extending aid to victims.
“Mineral or bottled water, blankets, kitchenware and canned food are the main items that can be donated to flood victims.”
“Last year, we had excess clothing from post-flood donations which piled up when nobody needed clothes.
“Some food like raw chicken or beef were already rotten by the time it reached the victims,” said the MPKj president.
“Some people even stopped traffic to take videos and this delayed aid to victims,” he added.
Illegal dumping was also discussed during the meeting.
Najmuddin said state government approval would be needed to seize land that had been turned into illegal dumpsites.
“Based on the council’s investigation, the developers of the land are the same, only the names of the landowners had changed.”
Councillors proposed increasing the fines for those operating illegal dumpsites and lorry companies involved in the activity.
