"Rising sea levels and climate change are expected to hit Klang badly in future, if there are no mitigation measures put in place," warned Klang MP Charles Santiago, who urged the government to pump more funds to help improve the drainage system.

“Klang will end up being submerged by 2050 if nothing is done,” he said.

Debating the King’s address in Parliament today, he cited a 2019 report released by the Centre for Governance and Political Studies (Cent-GPS), which said that a lot of coastal cities in the country, including Klang will be underwater in about 30 years.

He also referred to another research report released by Nature.com which said that a part of Klang will be underwater due to rising sea levels and climate change.

“Klang has been hit by flood five times in five months, with the worst one on Dec 17 and 18 last year. It is a port city with a high population density which needs additional funds to increase the capacity of its drainage systems.

“We need to widen monsoon drains, increase the capacity of sluice gates, build flood retention ponds, and increase the height of the bunds along the coastal areas. We need a lot more funds for these jobs,” he said.

Santiago said the frequency of cleaning monsoon drains by the public works department (JKR) in Klang must be increased from once every six months to a weekly basis.

“This does not make sense. How do you make a concession agreement to clean monsoon drains once every six months? This is not acceptable,” he said.

He added that he is still waiting for a response from JKR since raising this issue several times in the Dewan Rakyat.

“I am willing to drag JKR to court to ask them to clean the (monsoon) drains weekly in Klang if they do not respond to my request.”

To tackle the flood problem on a national scale, Santiago called for the formation of a special commission on floods to investigate the frequent occurrences in urban areas.

He said this commission, which should provide solutions, should comprise local and international experts.

“Such a commission is necessary as Malaysia, along with many other countries in Asia, is expected to experience more rainfall and flooding due to climate change, which was highlighted in the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report.

“Six states have been hit by floods in recent months with dozens of lives lost with extensive damage to properties as well as major disruption to the economy.

“For the B40 community, these floods are a double whammy as they have to incur losses from the floods after facing job and income losses during the Covid-19 pandemic,” Santiago said.

Article Credit - 
[1] Free Malaysia Today
[2] YB Charles Santiago