Media statement by MP for Ipoh Barat, M. Kula Segaran on 7 January 2022:

One-day Parliament on floods a joke, will not achieve anything

The special meeting of Parliament that will be held on Jan 20, on the recent flood devastation in our country, is a joke, does not make sense and will not yield any results.

Parliament should sit for at least 3-4 days. Each MP has a constituency and needs time to speak and we need to come up with effective plans and policies after discussing matters related to national interests that include floods and post-floods, coordination of assistance to the people and long-term flood disaster management planning. Will a single day be enough for all this?

The floods have affected more than 100,000 people in Malaysia, killed 48, and yet the Parliament can only sit for one day. How will the government answer questions of such a tragic occurrence in our country, within one day? Is this merely lip service?

The floods, which is one of the worst floods in 100 years, has devastated lives, homes and businesses, uprooting thousands and disrupting their livelihoods. The government was not only missing when the floods hit, miscommunication between Government agencies and departments saw unprecedented confusion and complete mismanagement of the catastrophic occurrence.

The betrayal to the people’s trust cannot go unpunished. It was ordinary people that had to step up to help their fellow neighbour because the government was completely missing.

It has been reported that more than RM20 billion has been lost to these floods. We need to know if this could have been avoided and how do we avoid this from ever happening again?

Climate change and pollution are major factors when we talk about flash floods. This must be addressed by the government and serious attention must be given to these factors.

Some reports say that Malaysia has the best equipment in the world to handle floods but it has not been used. While every government department points their finger at each other, no one is taking responsibility. They have failed the people.

This is why a Royal Commission must be formed to get to the bottom of the matter and so this does not repeat in the future.