LAST Tuesday's twin calamities of inner-city flooding and a residential area landslide exposed again the vicious cycle of oversight and bad maintenance in the country. With resignation, Kuala Lumpur folk waded through waist-high waters as they sought to mitigate the damage to their homes and property.
The Taman Melawati, landslide — triggered by what else, a blocked drainage system — rekindled the Highland Towers horror. The landslide just about overran Jalan G2 of the housing estate and fortunately, only four houses and a car were damaged.
This time, good fortune was on the residents' side. Though the landslide didn't reach Highland Towers' magnitude, it did bare a long-running problem: the lack of will to adopt pre-emptive measures to head off disasters.
At least the Public Works Department hill monitoring was good enough to sound an early warning for residents to vacate their homes.
Put things into context, billions have been spent on flood alleviation measures, including activating the RM2 billion Smart Tunnel, a 10km long stormwater drainage system that doubles as a major artery into the capital.
Here's the twist: as the thunderstorm raged, the Smart Tunnel executed its mission to divert rising waters but flooding still happened. To be fair, the Smart Tunnel's 2007 completion was so long ago that rapid development probably exceeded the tunnel's capacity.
The local authorities have some explaining to do, especially on projects that looked good on city plans but fell short on rectifying a strained drainage system. Were not enough funds and resources allocated to upgrades and maintenance? The flash floods also blocked the only route into Parliament House, stranding members of parliament and forcing the house to delay its proceedings.
Perhaps the MPs should move an emergency motion to reprimand those reponsible for curbing the floods.
In the long term, maintaining and developing Kuala Lumpur's public infrastructure must take into account a rising population, demand for more housing, and a fast developing climate crisis.
Changing weather systems will compel inhabitants to either build costly anti-flood measures or relocate to flood-free zones. In the meantime, the authorities have to consider the following immediate remedies. Clean the gutters, downspouts, splash pads, drainage ditches and storm drains.
They have to deepen rivers, enlarge reservoirs, and extend flood barriers, while waiting for the RM15 billion Flood Mitigation Plan to kick in by 2030. Anything less means further risks to lives, properties and the nation's economy.