TODAY’S special Parliament sitting was meant for the Ismail Sabri Yaakob administration to answer allegations that authorities were slow in responding to last month’s floods, and how to overcome future flood issues.

Instead, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Abdul Latiff Ahmad (Mersing-PN) managed to complete the 20-minute winding-up session without shining much light into the government’s future plans.

Aside from Ismail, the focus of today’s session was on Latiff, who is in charge of the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).

In the run-up to Parliament today, Nadma, which was started in 2014 after the floods in Kelantan, was accused of being too slow with relief measures after floods struck several states last month, with Selangor and Pahang the worst hit.

However, Latiff, who took his time with his winding-up, tried to deflect the blame to state governments by saying that it was not Nadma that was slow to respond.

“We cannot take over the powers of God and no one expected the floods to happen in Ulu Langat, and then Jelebu and Bentong. All low land areas,” Latiff said.

This sparked an argument with opposition MPs from Selangor, who told Latiff that Nadma was in control during emergencies, not state governments.

They told Latiff that states cannot direct the police or the military to help with relief work.

However, the opposition was more interested in Latiff telling Parliament what the government’s plans were to deal with future disasters.

“As said by the prime minister earlier, we will set up an assessment committee to study what has happened in the floods last month,” Latiff said, to the dissatisfaction of opposition members.

Gobind Singh Deo (Puchong-PH) said that the government should have already formulated a plan so that it could brief Parliament about it.

“The government should not be starting more committees. What else does it need to study?” Gobind said.

To which, Latiff half-heartedly mumbled that Nadma’s delay was a jurisdiction issue.

His answer did not go down well with Gobind and Hannah Yeoh (Segambut-PH) who then asked why the government needed more power for flood relief work.

“Does Nadma or the Prime Minister’s Department have sufficient powers?” Gobind said.

Tajuddin Abdul Rahman (Pasir Salak-BN) appeared to lose his temper and interrupted the debate, accusing the opposition of bullying the minister. 

“Don’t bully the minister,” he shouted repeatedly, telling Khalid Samad (Shah Alam-PH) to “shut up” when he tried to interject.

“Shut up you, shut up! Why are you bullying the minister? What did you do when you were minister,” said Tajuddin. 

The ensuing uproar wound down government’s answer session, with Latiff saying little or nothing the government’s future plans for flood mitigation in Malaysia.

“I will respond to your questions in writing in the next five days,” he said.

Parliament held a special one-day sitting today to discuss the government’s response and actions during the worst floods that have affected Malaysia last month, culminating in 55 deaths and hundreds of millions of ringgit worth of damages. – January 20, 2022.