Speaking during Prime Minister’s Question Time, Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat that most projects remained on schedule, except for one in Terengganu.
He was responding to Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Muda-Muar), who asked whether the cancellation and retendering of several flood mitigation projects due to alleged corruption, and to save costs, had delayed floods preparations.
“The retendering process, limited to qualified bidders, allowed us to save significant funds compared to previous allocations made through direct negotiations,” Anwar said, adding that past inefficiencies had largely stemmed from reliance on non-competitive practices.
To a supplementary question from Yusuf Abd Wahab (GRS-Tanjung Manis), Anwar said even technologically advanced nations like China, the US, and European countries struggled for full control over floods.
“The government has allocated nearly RM15 billion for comprehensive flood mitigation projects across Peninsular Malaysia, Sabah and Sarawak.
“Is this amount sufficient? Not entirely. Focusing solely on flood mitigation isn’t enough (to address the issue),” he said.
Anwar also said that Malaysia had faced an unprecedented rainfall on the last day of November, with five days of rain equalling six months’ worth of precipitation.
“This, combined with delayed dry spells, resulted in heavy downpours, overflowing reservoirs, and severe floods,” he said.
He added that advanced monitoring and early warning systems were being deployed to minimise future risks and improve disaster response.
Anwar also said he had recently discussed a decades-old flood mitigation project by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) with Japan’s new prime minister, Shigeru Ishiba.
According to Jica’s studies in the 1990s, Anwar said the estimated cost of flood mitigation measures had reached RM10 billion, but now could be as high as RM20 billion.
He agreed to acting in line with the recommendations, saying the construction of high embankments along the coastline could be part of the solution.
“Of course, this will take time, and hopefully when the economy is stronger, we can complete the flood mitigation projects.”