‘Legal action against builders who flout EIA conditions’

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): Legal action will be taken against developers found to have flouted the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) conditions and caused flash floods at the Federal Highway on Monday.

Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said an initial investigation shows that rubbish and mud from construction sites were swept into a monsoon drain during heavy rain from 1pm to 4pm.

“I believe this happened because the project developers failed to build retention ponds and garbage traps. The Department of Environment will take action against the developers if the projects were approved after August 2015, when new EIA conditions were enforced. “However, we cannot act if the projects were approved before August 2015 but Kuala Lumpur City Hall can act since approval comes under them,” he told a press conference at the parliament building yesterday.

A heavy downpour caused flash floods in Bangsar South, Pantai Dalam and the Federal Highway on Monday, resulting in a massive traffic snarl on the stretch linking Kuala Lumpur to Shah Alam.

Wan Junaidi said the drainage capacity and the culverts in Kuala Lumpur could still accommodate heavy rain without causing flash floods. “Data from the monitoring station in the area found the nearby river still has a high capacity of about 1.5m and is capable of accommodating heavy rainfall.”  — Bernama

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Nov 1, 2017.

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