Deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof, who is also the energy transition and water transformation minister, said RM410 million of that amount was allocated for river conservation to reduce the risk of flooding.
He said the remaining RM540 million was by the irrigation and drainage 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.
He was responding to Ahmad Marzuk Shaary (PN-Pengkalan Chepa), who asked about the allocation given to the DID in each state to overcome the problem of flash floods due to improper drainage and irrigation systems.
According to Fadillah, drainage systems are managed by various parties including the DID, local government authorities, district offices, the public works department and developers.
Referring to the Street, Drainage and Building Act 1974, he said the responsibility of building and maintaining drains lies with the local government authorities, but that the ministry would work with the agencies involved to ensure the drainage systems function properly.
For standardisation purposes, he said the Cabinet in 1996 delineated the division of responsibilities between local authorities and the DID, with all internal drainage systems, including artificial or municipal drainage systems, under the former and natural drainage systems involving rivers and streams under the latter.
Meanwhile, he said RM316.3 million had been allocated to the Sarawak DID to reduce flood risks at 17 locations in Kuching, Betung, Mukah, Miri, Limbang and Samarahan.
“This project is in the procurement process and is still waiting to be finalised by the finance ministry … I hope that with this project, we will be able to reduce flooding in the affected areas,” he said.
He was responding to a supplementary question from Chiew Choon Man (PH-Miri) who asked the government to approve allocations for Sabah and Sarawak to deal with flood problems in the states.