KUCHING: State DAP chairman Chong Chieng Jen is ready to fight for more funds for flood mitigation projects in Sarawak when Parliament sits again in February next year.
He said flash floods in several urban areas, including Kuching, were a long-standing issue, which often occurred during heavy downpours.
The Stampin Member of Parliament (MP) said many residential areas and several locations in town would be flooded; every time when it rained heavily for 30 minutes to an hour.
“It is a major issue and concern of the people living and working in the urban areas. Thus, I welcome the call from Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang who had recently asked me to get more allocations from the federal government to address the issue.
“I have no second thoughts when it comes to fighting something for the benefit of the people,” he said at a press conference held at DAP headquarters here, today.
Chong hoped his efforts to fight for more allocations, would be fully supported by Lo, who is also the Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) chairman.
He said he would need more details and documents to debate the issue effectively in the Parliament, including the overall planning and mitigation projects or programmes for Kuching or MPP’s areas, allocations which had been approved by the state and federal governments since 2018 as well as the implementation and progress of these projects (where funds had been approved).
Apart from that, he said, it was necessary for him to know if there was any letter written to Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) federal ministers and deputy ministers to request for more allocations for flood mitigation issues in Sarawak – as Lo is part of the GPS government.
The Padungan assemblyman added that as far as he was concerned, the Pakatan Harapan federal government in 2018 had allocated RM250 million for flood mitigation in Sarawak.
In addition, the Sarawak government had also announced RM350 million would be set aside for projects to resolve the issue of flood-prone areas in Stampin, particularly the Stampin resettlement scheme by next year.
“I need to know to get all the details about the projects that had been approved or implemented with the allocations by the federal and state governments, how much has been dispersed and for what projects. MPP has all the information,” he added.
Chong said he would write to MPP today and visit the office on Jan 3, to request for all the necessary documents.
Only by having all the facts and figures, he said, could he debate effectively and fight for more funds for flood mitigation projects in Sarawak.
He also asked Lo to raise the issue and request for more funds from the latter’s colleagues in GPS, especially the federal ministers and deputy ministers, such as Sarikei MP Datuk Seri Huang Tiong Sii, who is also the Deputy Minister of Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change.
