Portal mapping out flood-prone areas not fully beneficial, says Sheda Kuching advisor

KUCHING (July 5): The introduction of a portal allowing house buyers to check on flood-prone areas before purchasing homes might not be entirely beneficial, said Sarawak Housing Estate Developers Association (Sheda) Kuching advisor Dato Sim Kiang Chiok.

He opined that the proposed will have both advantages and disadvantages for homeowners, new purchasers and development areas.

“Existing homeowners in identified flood zones may struggle to sell their properties and could see a decline in property values as potential buyers might avoid homes listed as flood-prone.

“These homeowners will be trapped, unable to sell their houses to escape from the flood-prone areas,” he said in a statement.

Regarding landowners and developers, Sim expressed concern about the inability to fully-develop areas identified as flood-prone.

“It may be possible to raise the land above flood levels through proper earth-filling works, making development feasible.

“Nevertheless, being listed as a flood-prone area might create a negative stigma, making it difficult to attract market interest for new developments,” he said.

Sim proposed that flood mitigation measures be implemented by the government as an alternative means of assistance.

“These could include increasing the maintenance and clearing of existing drains, constructing more discharge outlets into rivers or seas through storm mitigation methods, using dry ponds to slow down rain discharge, and building larger drains with controlled discharge,” he added.

Recently, Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof announced in the Parliament that the portal is expected to be accessible to the public by the end of this year.

The Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation said his ministry, through the irrigation and drainage department (DID), had been developing the portal to provide information on flood-prone areas nationwide.

In his written parliamentary reply, Fadillah mentioned that since 2013, DID has conducted engagement sessions with state governments, federal agencies, the housing and local government ministry, as well as the private sector to explain the benefits of sharing flood information with the public.

Based on these engagements, stakeholders provided positive feedback and agreed that flood incidence maps should be shared with the public to prevent buyers from purchasing homes in areas at risk of flooding.