PARLIAMENT Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak told Parliament today the government sees no need to set up a royal commission of inquiry (RCI) to study the recent floods nationwide, as there are currently ongoing measures to deal with the issue.
 
Najib (BN-Pekan, left) said the government has already allocated an initial budget of RM800 million to deal with the flood problems as well as rebuilding of the flood-affected areas
 
“There is no need to form a RCI to investigate the recent flood incidents,” he said.
 
However, he added the current standard operating procedure (SOP) in dealing with the floods and relief efforts should be re-evaluated.
 
“The current SOP has to be researched and improved to deal with such disasters. A few issues have been identified and need improvement,” Najib added.
 
Last year end saw the worst flooding in the nation’s recent history, especially in the East Coast states, displacing hundreds of thousands.

In his parliamentary reply to Azalina Othman (BN-Pengerang), Najib added among the measures that would be looked to be improved by the government include raising the “competency” of agencies involved at the district, state and federal level, improving the early warning system and  strategic deployment of assets for search and rescue operations.

He also said the government would be increasing their assets like boats, amphibious vehicles and helicopters to help facilitate relief efforts.

‘Joint responsibility of federal and state govts’

Meanwhile, when asked by Johari Abdul (PKR- Sungai Petani), why the government did not declare a state of emergency during the floods in December last year, Najib replied this was because Putrajaya wanted the relief efforts to be a joint responsibility of both federal and state governments.

“It cannot be the sole responsibility of the federal government. Besides, declaring a state emergency would give an implication to the insurance claims of the property by the victims,” Najib added.

Najib also refuted a query from Hatta Ramli (PAS-Kuala Krai, right) who asked why there was no contingency plan during the floods, stating the floods happened “unexpectedly” on a large scale, especially in Kelantan.

“It happens once in 100 years where there is drastic rise in water levels. It was abnormal and no one expected this to happen,” he clarified.

Even opposition governed states like the PAS-led Kelantan were not discriminated against in the relief efforts, he said, adding that however, he encouraged the state governments to take more proactive measures in dealing with the disasters.

“We also hope that the state government would be wiser when approving areas for projects such as mining.

“This recent flood was more of a mud flood than anything else, so the state government needs to take a long-term view on this,” Najib added.