Major floods shows Sabah needs to move towards strategic prevention, says Parti Warisan man

KOTA KINABALU (March 3): The major floods that struck Sabah last month shows the state must move from crisis management to strategic prevention to ensure the state’s development and economic activities are not disrupted.

Parti Warisan strategic communications director Christopher Masudal said the floods led to several districts being declared as disaster areas, with thousands of residents forced to relocate to temporary evacuation centres.

He said the situation not only affected the safety and wellbeing of the people, but also resulted in the destruction of property and serious disruptions to the state’s economic activities.

“The state leadership cannot continue to blame high rainfall or tidal phenomena as the main causes of the increasingly frequent major floods. The same excuses have been used for the past decade. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the current government to formulate and implement a flood mitigation plan that is truly effective, comprehensive and capable of delivering long-term impact,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

Masudal said the mitigation plan must not be prepared in silo by a handful of officers within certain ministries or departments, but be developed inclusively through continuous engagement involving geological associations, engineering bodies, public universities, NGOs, political parties and village residents who are directly affected.

Masudal said that there were allegations from villagers that the severe flooding in their areas is caused by hill-clearing activities for logging and development purposes.

If a thorough investigation is not conducted, the risk of recurring floods in the same areas will continue to haunt the people, he said.

“Given that the Chief Minister and members of the State Cabinet have recently taken the Corruption-Free Pledge (IBR), this pledge should be translated into concrete action by requesting the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) to conduct investigations should there be allegations of abuse of power involving state government officers, politicians or companies in hill-clearing and development activities that may have contributed to the floods.

“Such allegation by villagers is precisely the reason why Parti Warisan insists on the establishment of a State Ombudsman Committee, which would have the authority to hear and investigate complaints or allegations concerning any decision or action by state government officials that may have adversely affected the interests and livelihoods of the people of Sabah.

“An independent system of check and balance is crucial to ensure transparency and accountability in the state administration,” he said.

Masudal also wondered why the prime minister and top leadership of the federal government had not visited the affected areas to assess the suffering of Sabahans or provide assurance of financial assistance.

“Is the absence of the said official visit within 14 days of the flood disaster linked to the fact that the State Election has already passed and therefore Sabah is no longer a priority?

“It is impossible that they were unaware, as the flooding that hit this state received widespread coverage for nearly two weeks in the national media.

“Nevertheless, the absence of the nation’s top leadership at a time when the people of Sabah are suffering the impact of a natural disaster proves an important point—that this state deserves equitable treatment and immediately federal attention.

“Sabah is capable of weathering any major calamity on its own, just as Shafie Apdal acted swiftly in the interest of the people of Sabah during the Covid-19 pandemic without waiting for assistance or instructions from Muhyiddin Yassin, who was the Prime Minister at that time,” he said.