by
Voon Lee Shan Saturday, January 17, 2009
Each time when there was flood SUPP leaders were always too efficient and busy seeking donations and handing out foods and other reliefs to the flood victims. Each time, when there was flood, those flood victims in Kgp Kudei were normally always been in the front pages of the newspapers. SUPP leaders had politically exploited their problem and the recent clever exploitation of the flood victims at Kpg. Kudei was in fact, a re-cycling of the plights faced by these people. This should not have happened had problem about their plight had been solved as promised some twenty years ago. They were poor people and had told the authorities that they need to be re-settled and there were promises by the State Government to resettle them, but, until now these poor people could not get help from the government. The government knew that they have to be resettled because Kpg. Kudei was not a suitable place for human occupation because the lives of those who made their homes there could one day face great danger from fire, disease and flood.
However, BN and SUPP leaders had so far failed to appreciate the damage caused by the floods in the past years, especially, in 2003 and 2004 were meaningless to their publicity of love and compassion. BN and SUPP leaders should realize that floods were serious problems and they should not keep on telling the people that floods in Kuching and surrounding areas were act of God. We could not blame God totally because many of the causes of floods in Kuching and other adjacent areas were also man created through policies of the government of the day. God gave Sarawak River two tributaries, but, why blocked them with a causeway and a barrage? Why did not foresee that housing estates should need better drainage systems? Why fell the trees and cleared the forests, when trees could help mitigate floods by soaking the water during heavy rain? Why fell trees and clearing of forests be allowed for purpose of profit of the few, yet, without proper replanting and forest management? Were not these contributed to erosions and siltation of the river beds of the Sarawak River? Had not this siltation then caused the riverbeds to be shallow? Had not the shallow waterbeds cause rain water to rise up very quickly to flood riverbanks and into the farms, shops and houses?
Now, who should be responsible for all these floods? Was it not the government of the day that was also responsible for the flood in Kuching City? Were not big floods like the ones in 2003, 2004 and this year unheard of in Kuching?
And after having contributed to the flood, many BN leaders including those in the SUPP then came all out to show love and compassion to those affected by the floods by evacuating those affected and putting them in places like Chinese Schools. Why should they put these flood victims in Chinese schools? Were they not aware that Chinese schools receive very little fund from the government? Were they aware that many of these Chinese schools were near bankrupt and that they have to be thrifty in their expenditure? Now, these Chinese schools have to find extra funds to pay the costs of electricity and water used by these flood victims and it is not sure whether these schools used as refuge for the flood victims will be compensated by the government or not for their loss. Of course, those that had been evacuated each time there was flood, included those people of Kpg. Kudei in the Batu Lintang Constituency.
BN leaders including those in the SUPP had made these flood victims in Kpg. Kudei good re-cycled news for their political mileage, but, forgot that this was at the expense of the sufferings of the people caused by the government they run. The public should have no thanks to them for such gestures of love and compassion because the sufferings caused to the people were substantially created by the BN government, in which, we could not put this as caused by act of God.
The leaders of the BN and SUPP should understand that flood problem should be tackled once and for all. We should not let it happen again and again because not only the people in Kpg. Kudei that suffered, but, the farmers, shopkeepers, daily paid workers and businessmen also suffered. This time the loss for businessmen in Kuching, especially, at the Main Bazaar, India Street, Padungan, Petanak, Batu Lintang and Sekama, could be something not less than a million ringgit and the poor farmers had their fishes in the ponds escaped into the seas and their vegetable gardens destroyed. Their losses were also been very substantial.
Sg. Maong area of the Batu Lintang Constituency was a low lying area and Kg. Kudei is within the Constituency. In 1991 State Election it was splashed in local newspapers that the state government came out with plans to tackle the flood problems in Kuching and in Batu Lintang. Dr. George Chan had personally appeared in The Borneo Post dated 26. 9. 1991 to say that a grant of RM60 million came from both the state and federal coffers to improve the drainage system in Batu Lintang and this did not include additional funds announced by the Chief Minister, Tan Sri Taib Mahmud, for the drainage plan study. However, a sincere Minister, Datuk Wong Soon Koh told the Dewan when questioned by me that there was no such fund.
There was also a feasibility study to improve the drainage systems and flood control for Kuching City, in which, came with the idea of the Sarawak Barrage and also a causeway to be build across the two tributaries of the Sarawak River. The Sarawak Barrage was then built on one of the tributaries and the causeway was built on the other tributary. The Sarawak Barrage with its’ gates was to regulate the water flow in and out of the Sarawak River while the causeway was as a driveway for cars to cross from the Kuching side of the City to Petrajaya. In the feasibility study by an engineering firm from the United Kingdom in collaboration with a local engineering firm, it was said that if a barrage and a causeway were to be constructed, a canal somewhere at Kpg. Paroh should be constructed so that a replacement water outlet could be found to let the flood water to flow to the South China Sea. This engineering report from the engineering firm, Rendel, Palmer & Tritton was first shown by me to the public during the 2004 General Election. Fed-up with the floods, I have to get my friends to discreetly passed me this report and I thanked them for their help.
The estimated cost at that time was only RM70 million, but, now it is said that the whole project would cost RM1 billion! To this, many said we had a stupid government.
Not only matter ended there. In the 2004 General Election a State Cabinet Minister and leader of SUPP said that the state government had employed the services of experts from China to study the flood problems in the City of Kuching. In the Dewan Undangan Negeri recently when cornered by Honourable Members from the Opposition, the State Government said they would this time seriously look into the matter. A senior BN politician before he left the Federal Cabinet and who at one time was speculated to take over from Tan Sri Pehin Taib Mahmud as Chief Minister, also said that funds were coming from the Federal Government. Now, where is the fund? What had happened? Again, we now hear (The Borneo Post dated 17. 1. 200) from Dr. George Chan, assistance from the federal government is sought, but, this was an old song sung many time, but, still this song never caught much attention from the BN government. The song had not become sweet to the ears anymore, and something must quickly be done by the BN government.
It was also recently disclosed that the canal at Kpg. Paroh definitely would be built, but, until now we did not receive the progress of the project. Even if the project gets off the ground and be completed, there is no guarantee that this canal could solve the flood problems in Bau and Kuching areas. This is because the canal if built must have the size and depth to replace the two tributaries of the Sarawak River built for causeway and the barrage. Even if the canal could be completed, but, if it will be a small and shallow canal, then public money spent would be a waste.
So BN leaders had big plans, but, talked only. They all had in their mind projects of millions of ringgits to solve the flood problems in Kuching, but, none of their plans until now had materialized to relieve the sufferings of the Kuching people. Instead they were too energetic to be political beggars to beg for donations from many companies and businessmen. These companies and businessmen could be flood victims themselves and could have suffered much loss due to the flood, but, had to give face to these political leaders in donating to other flood victims. Instead of getting help to mitigate their loss, they had to incur further loss by helping others when they had to oblige and give face to these BN leaders.
By Boo Su-Lyn malaysianinsider
