KUALA LUMPUR, The government has allocated RM950 million under the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP) to conserve rivers to reduce flood risk and for emergency works arising from the disaster nationwide, the Parliament was told today. Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, also Minister of Energy Transition and Water Transformation, said of that amount, RM410 million was allocated to conserve rivers to reduce the risk of flooding. He said the remaining RM540 million is by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) for emergency works to restore structures damaged by floods. 'However, the distribution of the allocation is based on the current needs of each state,' he said during an oral question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today. He was responding to a question from Datuk Dr Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PN-Pengkalan Chepa) who wanted to know the allocation given to the Drainage and Irrigation Department in each state to overcome the problem of flash floods due to improper drainage and irrigation sys tem. According to Fadillah, the management of the drainage system is managed by various parties including DID, the local government authorities (PBT), district offices, the Public Works Department and developers. Referring to the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, he said, the responsibility to build and maintain drains is under the local government authorities, but the ministry will always work with the agencies involved in ensuring that the drainage system can function properly. For standardisation purposes, he said the Cabinet in 1996 delineated the division of responsibilities between PBT and DID where all internal drainage systems, including artificial or municipal drainage systems, are under PBT, while natural drainage systems involving rivers and streams are under DID. Meanwhile, he said RM316.3 million had been allocated to the Sarawak DID to reduce flood risk in 17 locations in Kuching, Betung, Mukah, Miri, Limbang and Samarahan. "This project is in the procurement process and is still wait ing to be finalised by the Ministry of Finance... I hope that with this project, we will be able to reduce flooding in the affected areas,' he said. He said this in response to a supplementary question from Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri) who wanted the government to approve allocations to Sabah and Sarawak to deal with flood problems in both states. Source: BERNAMA News Agency