Budget 2020: DoE, DoC get RM30mil after year of pollution crisis

PETALING JAYA: The government will be beefing up the Department of Environment and Department of Chemistry with a RM30mil allocation to prevent another Sungai Kim Kim, Pasir Gudang and transboundary haze disaster.

Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng announced this during his Budget 2020 speech at Parliament on Friday (Oct 11).

He said RM30mil would be used to build the capacity of both departments to tackle such issues.

"The recent incidents at Sungai Kim Kim and Pasir Gudang, as well as the spread of hazardous transboundary haze are painful reminders of the importance of protecting our environment, and the cost of greed," he said.

Lim added that in oder to mitigate the occurrence of flash floods, the government would also allocate RM443.9mil towards flood mitigation projects and RM150mil towards the maintenance of existing flood retention ponds.

"Additionally, to assist farmers in their time of need, the government will establish a RM100mil Disaster Assistance Fund to provide loans at an interest rate of 4%," he added.