GE15: Almost RM400 mln needed to overcome floods in Padang Serai

KULIM, Nov 29 (Bernama) -- The flood problem in Padang Serai parliamentary constituency can be resolved with RM400 million allocation said Perikatan Nasional (PN) candidate for Padang Serai parliamentary seat, Datuk Azman Nasrudin.

Azman who is also Lunas assemblyman said the estimate was put up by the Kulim District Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) engineers who had drawn up the flood mitigation project for the entire area.

However, he said the allocation estimate has not been brought to the federal level for approval.

"The Kulim DID has drawn up an outline of the flood mitigation plan. It costs a lot. Not just the flood as the river banks had also collapsed in Lunas area.

"When I brought this matter to Kulim DID, they started to repair by building a new river bank. The department had worked hard on the issues but for the flood mitigation we need more (projects)," he said when met campaigning in Kampung Nesa here today.

As the Lunas assemblyman for two terms, Azman said the issue of flash floods is one of the matters he has been giving priority and it will also be taken up at the Padang Serai parliamentary level if given the mandate by the community there.

The 15th general election (GE15) for the Padang Serai parliamentary seat is seeing a six-cornered fight between Azman, Dr Mohamad Sofee Razak (Pakatan Harapan), Datuk C. Sivaraj (Barisan Nasional), Hamzah Abd Rahman (Pejuang), Mohd Bakhri Hashim (Warisan ) and Independent candidate Sreanandha Rao.

The Election Commission (EC) earlier set the GE15 voting day for the Padang Serai Parliament to be postponed to Dec 7 and early voting to Dec 3 following the death of PH candidate M. Karupaiya.

The August 2022 Supplementary Electoral Roll updated up to Oct 9 containing 133,867 voters involving 133,776 regular voters, 76 police and 15 Absentee Voters Abroad will be used for the election.

-- BERNAMA