PETALING JAYA: Parti Sosialis Malaysia (PSM) wants the authorities to explain why they did not instruct the SMART Tunnel to be activated earlier to prevent a major flood in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.
In a statement today, the party’s central committee member Sharan Raj claimed the flood at Masjid Jamek could have been avoided if storm water had been diverted through the tunnel sooner.
Yesterday, torrential rain, which began at 1.30pm, caused flash floods in several parts of the city, with water rising to as high as 3m in some areas.
Sharan said according to SMART’s media statement, the Irrigation and Drainage Department gave the instruction to divert water from Sungai Klang through the SMART Tunnel only at 4pm, adding that this was when the river overflowed its banks.
“The SMART Tunnel was designed to divert storm water from Sungai Klang, which is adjacent to Masjid Jamek, to prevent flash floods,” he said.
“The failure of the authorities to issue instructions several hours earlier had caused the flash floods. Why the delay in floodwater diversion through the SMART tunnel?”