KUALA LUMPUR – The special Dewan Rakyat sitting on January 20 to debate the recent flood disaster will be a joke and the brief session will fail to yield significant results, said DAP lawmaker M. Kula Segaran.
The Ipoh Barat MP said the lower House should sit for at least three or four days to debate the floods, which have since taken the lives of 54 people, while affecting more than 100,000 people across several states.
“Each MP has a constituency and needs time to speak. W0e need to come up with effective plans and policies after discussing matters related to national interests that include floods and post-floods, coordination of assistance for the people, and long-term flood disaster management planning.
“Will a single day be enough for all this? How will the government answer questions of such a tragic occurrence in our country within one day? Is this merely lip service?” Kulasegaran said in a statement today.
The former human resource minister also chided the government’s response to the floods, saying how it was “missing” when tragedy struck, bugged by communications problems between government agencies, and overshadowed by what he said was unprecedented confusion and complete mismanagement.
Kula Segaran said costs of damages from the floods have reportedly hit the RM20 billion mark, with most of those suffering devastating losses being ordinary citizens.
“The betrayal of the people’s trust cannot go unpunished. It was the ordinary people that had to step up to help their neighbours, because the government was completely missing.
“We need to know if this could have been avoided and how do we avoid this from ever happening again.” he wrote.
Kula Segaran’s statement comes in response to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob’s announcement yesterday that a special parliamentary sitting to debate the devastations of the floods, recovery efforts, and future mitigating steps has been set for January 20.
Pokok Sena MP Datuk Mahfuz Omar from Amanah had also weighed in, telling Sinar Harian that the special sitting should last for at least six days.
He added that the first three days could be used to debate and decide on a flood recovery and mitigation white paper, and the following three days to discuss the issue bogging Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission chief Tan Sri Azam Baki.
He said it is imperative for Ismail Sabri to address these two issues pertinently as it would reflect his ability in managing the country and its issues.
Separately, Umno secretary-general Datuk Seri Ahmad Maslan thanked Ismail Sabri for announcing the one-day special sitting.
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