Penang Govt Refutes Claims Of Causing Floods

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang government has refuted claims over development that it was to blame for floods which afflicted the island on Friday evening following a heavy downpour.

Local Government, Traffic Management and Flood Mitigation Committee chairman Chow Kon Yeow said development was properly controlled by the Penang Island Municipal Council.

He also denied that excessive hill cutting was the cause behind the flood which flooded several roads in town and brought traffic to a standstill.

"The floods are not caused by the two factors as claimed by the (state) opposition," he said in response to the allegations by Penang Gerakan chairman Teng Chang Yeow during a press conference today.

Chow said rain on Friday evening was measured as a 40-year long Average Reccurance Interval (AVI) or rain levels which comes once on average in every 40 years.

He said the drainage system in the state was designed to only cope with a two to 10 AVI range of rainfall.

He said the high tide at the time also worsened the situation as rainwater could not flow out to sea fast enough.

"To cope with a 40 year AVI, we have to build a drain as wide as the Penang Road," he said adding the state has approved RM2.7million worth of flood mitigation projects. - The Sun Daily