He said this in response to calls for the Penang Government to spend “a billion or two” to tackle floods.
It was wrong to compare the flood projects with its RM46 billion Penang Transport Master Plan (TMP), Chow said.
He said the state government had taken it upon itself to fund its own transportation project since requests for funding for the project were not entertained by the Federal Government.
“The fact that Parliament approved the funding (of RM150 million for a flood project in Penang) proves that it is a federal jurisdiction project.
“As for the TMP, we can wait until the cows come home (if funds are to come from the Federal Government). The FMP and TMP are two different matters.
“We will continue to chase after the Federal Government to obtain the RM800 million for FMP projects needed by Penang.
“Hopefully, they do not play politics with us. Give us allocations where they are due.
“We will continue to represent the people’s voices until these projects are funded,” Chow said during a press conference with Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng in Komtar today.
Earlier today, Penang Federal Action Council (FAC) Chairman Zainal Abidin Osman told the Penang Government to spend “a billion or two” to tackle floods in Penang since it was able to come up with funds for the TMP.
This was following yesterday’s flash floods in Penang — the fourth time in two weeks.
They wreaked havoc on low-lying areas along Penang Island’s longest riverine, Sungai Pinang, caving in roads and bringing down swathes of mud from hill slopes.
The Penang Government has claimed the Federal Government had been non-committal in allocating funds for the third phase of a mitigation project it began in Sungai Pinang in the late 1990s.
The state government says if the RM350 million had been disbursed earlier, the floods could have been averted.
Meanwhile, when asked what was more important, transportation or floods, Chow said they were of equal importance and insisted that the Federal Government ought to carry out its mandated duty when it came to tackling floods.
“You can pose this question to (Penang FAC Chairman) Zainal Abidin Osman. I am sure he will reply you the same.
“It comes under federal jurisdiction, according to the Federal Constitution (to carry out flood mitigation),” Chow said.
The three-phase Sungai Pinang FMP was initiated by the Federal Government in 1998 to address frequent flooding problems.
The first phase of the project began in 1998 with the widening and deepening of the river from the estuary to the Jalan Patani bridge, at a cost of RM6.45 million.
The second phase was carried out between the Jalan Patani bridge and Dobby Ghaut in 1999.
The final and third phase was to focus on the final upstream portion of the river. It was two-pronged — first to improve the water quality and, secondly, to widen and deepen the river.
This particular phase was delayed as the city council had to remove squatters by the riverbank to allow the mitigation project to take place.
In a handout, the city council said earlier this year that it had cleared the illegal structures, spending RM298,000 to remove 161 structures by the riverbank since December 2013.
The city council also spent RM4 million in ex-gratia payments to 223 residents.
Penang Govt urged to allocate ‘a billion or two’ for flood projects