MASSIVE deforestation was among the causes of the heavy floods that followed downpours in Johor, environmentalists said.

Protection of Natural Heritage of Malaysia president Shariffa Sabrina Syed Akil blamed the floods in Malaysia on lack of awareness of climate change, deforestation, over-development and poor drainage.

“Johor and Singapore get the same amount of rain but why are there no floods in Singapore? Malaysia must learn from her neighbour.

“Over-development, deforestation, clearing of hills are impacts that cause flooding,” Shariffa Sabrina told The Malaysian Insight.

Six people died as a result of floods that hit Johor last week.

“Singapore has planted a lot of trees everywhere. They are more careful there but Malaysia bulldozes everything when it wants to build. It doesn’t have proper planning,” she said.

“More natural disasters are bound to happen. All this is the impact of years of massive deforestation. Now we have to face the consequences.”

Shariffa Sabrina said the federal government should address the root causes of the problem instead of merely handing out aid whenever disaster strikes.

“The forests are under state control. But the federal government can always place a moratorium on deforestation and logging.”

Green Earth Society Johor president Sivakumar Packirisamy said the downpours were caused by climate change.

“This is a global issue. Malaysia should seriously consider reducing the carbon in the atmosphere. We are having too much rainfall, maybe about three times more, because of the heat from greenhouse gasses,” he said.

Sivakumar said lack of flood mitigation measures is another reason for the flooding.

“Every budget mentions flood mitigation but we are not sure how many flood mitigation projects have been carried out in states facing this problem,” he said.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has given his assurance that flood mitigation projects, especially in Johor, will be expedited.

Flood mitigation work will be carried out in Sungai Johor and Kota Tinggi in Johor while a dual-function reservoir will be built in Sungai Klang-Sungai Rasau in Selangor. The Sungai Golok integrated river basin development has entered phase threee in Kelantan.

Sivakumar said it is regrettable that people continue to dump rubbish into the river.

“We blame poor drainage for the flooding but people should also understand that they should not throw waste into drains and rivers,” he said.

He called for more efforts to educate and raise awareness of flood prevention.

It was reported that more than 160,000kg of rubbish were collected in post-flood clean-up efforts in Johor.

More than 42,000 people were evacuated in Johor in the past week. Batu Pahat was the most affected with 23,370 people in shelters; followed by Muar (4,106) and Segamat (3,620). – March 8, 2023.