Yeoh said Kuala Lumpur had lost 70% of the areas intended to mitigate flooding, and the capital now lacks sufficient land to serve as an alternative buffer against such disasters.

She said she was puzzled as to how such approvals could have been granted as they clearly put residents’ safety at risk.

“The decision to hand over flood retention ponds to developers and reduce water bodies by 70% was an unwise one. I can say this was a foolish decision,” she was quoted by Berita Harian as saying after an event in Kuala Lumpur today.

“Why? Because we know Kuala Lumpur does not have enough land and we are constantly facing floods.

“Now, every time it rains, we face flash floods in Kuala Lumpur.”

Yeoh also said she wanted to set up a meeting with the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission after its recent investigation into approvals for development near flood retention ponds in Kuala Lumpur found no elements of corruption.

On Tuesday, Yeoh had said the capacity of Kuala Lumpur’s flood retention ponds had shrunk to about 30% of their original size.

She said the reduction had been caused by the alienation of 17 land lots within the Jinjang and Batu retention pond zones to developers since 2015.

She also said Kuala Lumpur City Hall would not approve planning permission for any development application on flood retention pond land until conditions stipulated by the department of irrigation and drainage were fully complied with, to ensure that the ponds’ original function and maintenance access were preserved.