Pac slams slow progress of govt’s RM1bil flood warning project
Published on: Wednesday, March 20, 2024
By: FMT
PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin says the energy transition and water transformation ministry needs to complete the remaining phases of the flood forecasting and warning project on time and within budget. (Bernama pic)
PETALING JAYA: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has sharply criticised the government’s lack of progress in its RM1 billion national flood forecasting and warning programme (PRAB).
PAC chairman Mas Ermieyati Samsudin took the energy transition and water transformation ministry as well as the irrigation and drainage department to task for failing to fulfil the requirements for the RM129 million first phase of the programme.
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“The ministry and the department need to ensure that they carry out immediate remote terminal unit replacements at 79 out of 118 flood warning stations.
“This is to ensure that the PRAB functions perfectly,” she said in a statement today.
She also said the ministry and department need to make sure that all planned contracts consider technological progress and the impact of project delays.
“The ministry and the department need to complete phases 2 and 3 of PRAB on time and within budget, ensuring good quality, regular maintenance, and proper protection for station equipment,” she said, adding that the total cost of the project was RM1.07 billion.
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She said PAC would give the ministry two months before calling it back for a follow-up, by which time she said the committee expects action to have been taken.
Mas Ermieyati’s comments follow a PAC meeting on Jan 16, in which the committee said RM129 million spent by the government for phase 1 of PRAB was not justified due to its inaccuracy in forecasting floods and reporting flood water levels.
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She also said delays in the installation of the PRAB system should not have occurred, given the social and economic impact on the lives of those affected by floods.
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