SEREMBAN: A move by three individuals to sue the Negri Sembilan government for alleged negligence that resulted in massive floods in November 2020 is politically motivated, claims Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun (pic).
The Mentri Besar said floods were a common phenomenon and had occurred in many parts of the country.
"I know who is behind the suit and this issue is being politicised.
"We have to remember that when floods struck several areas in Negri in November, many other places... all over the country were also hit but no one has filed any legal action because they know floods have been happening for a long time,” he told reporters after chairing the state exco meeting at Wisma Negri here on Wednesday (July 6).
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Aminuddin said the people also needed to understand that the state government only had a small budget for flood mitigation measures and the bulk of it came from Federal authorities.
"We have been doing our best... but we have to wait for the funds.
"We also do not expect the Federal Government to give us the funds immediately as the sum is usually big and it also needs to help other states," he said, adding that incidences of flooding in the state have since reduced.
On July 1, Zahari Ariffin, 59, Tung King Hong, 66, and S. Kalesvaran, 44, filed a writ of summons at the High Court against the state government for alleged negligence for losses suffered during a flood that occurred in November 2020.
In their suit, the three also named Aminuddin, the Seremban City Council, the state Irrigation and Drainage Department director and Syarikat Air Negri Sembilan as respondents.
The three are also representing 97 other residents and business owners from Taman Mok Sum, Taman Happy, Taman Sungai Ujong, Kg Semarak, Taman Rasah Utama, Jalan Rasah and Kg Bt 3 Mantau in Mambau.
The plaintiffs claimed the flood which happened on Nov 4, 2020 was unusual and not an act of God as claimed by authorities because it only rained for 30 minutes but water levels in some areas rose between 1.5m and 2.4m (5ft and 8ft).
The flood, they claimed, was the worst in the area in the past 20 years and caused damage to several hundred households.
Aminuddin said even when the state received Federal funds, it could not carry out all the flood mitigation projects due to the high cost.
"And when we do carry out such projects, you will still have people dumping rubbish into rivers.
"Some projects also get delayed as we will have to re-tender them because the cost of raw materials would have gone up once the tender is awarded," he added.
