Dear Editor, AFTER a careful study on flood occurrences and the development of settlements, the Federation of Malaysian Consumers Association environment desk would like to suggest the following to be considered by members of the public and the government in their planning and implementation.

We must mitigate floods sys tematically. Floods can have a de structive effect on people. It costs the government and people millions annually. This cost is a heavy burden, especially if we have to face this problem every year.

Floods take place due to an in crease in surface run-off from rain and the lack of drainage, either natural or man-made.

The lack of drainage can be due to shallow rivers, unplanned drainage for urban and rural set tlements and a lack of monitoring as well as the maintenance of flood mitigation infrastructures.

What can we do to mitigate flood problems?

Some of the suggestions from Fomca are:

- Unify all floods, climate change and flood mitigation related re search in local universities. This will help policymakers acquire data.

- Revisit developments that cause deforestation because de velopment can reduce the ‘sponge’ effect. Start greening uphill de velopments to help reduce surface run-off.

- Town planning should consider redesigning drainage.
The plug-in of drains should be avoided.
Developers should study the ca pacity of the drain and obtain proper approval from agencies like the Irrigation and Drainage De partment.

- Tonnes of sediment are carried by rivers every year. A proper sys tem that widens and deepens rivers is needed as well as mon itoring and maintenance. Con tractors should not leave sedi ments at rivers or drain banks.

- Flood prone areas should have flood water retention ponds.
Rainwater is a wasted source of raw water as they can be treated for drinking purposes. A long term plan in harvesting rainwater can reduce operational costs in treat ing drinking water.

- Prevent development in flood prone areas.

It all starts by planning and the task is upon us. We cannot reverse the effects of climate change immediately but we can prevent the level of its effect on us.

The future is in our hands.

Piarapakaran Subramaniam
Fomca environment desk

Source: Malay Mail – January 22, 2008