Thursday, December 21, 2006
Iskandar Project washed away?
Once again, Malaysia has been inundated by massive floods, this time in Johor. Many towns have been cut off from aid, people fleeing their homes and towns, destroyed by massive floods. Many parts of southern Johor including the state capital Johor Bahru is now a sea of mud and water. Now in order to do some damage control and spin this to fend off the anger of thousands of people in the small towns who have seen their property damaged and lives disrupted, the Minister for Science and Technology Datuk Jamaluddin Jarjis has blamed "unusually strong" rainfall. The spin must begin and it must work in overdrive. Where has the billions of Ringgit spent by the government to do flood mitigation works all over the country gone to? And is mother nature to be blamed for this cruel setback hitting many ordinary Malaysians? What about deforestation, wanton hill cutting work, in order to build roads and homes? Does these have anything to do with this latest deluge?
Pictures like those splashed in the newspapers today says a thousand words. We are not a developed country, nor are we even close to attaining such a status we desperately sought after. One glance, and a foreigner could have mistaken the picture to come from Bangladesh. What will the politicians say now? Promise more money for flood mitigation works which inevitably will be eaten away by UMNO division heads and other government agencies for other private purposes? Despite talk of bullish economic growth touted by the government, basic infrastructure remains a distance away. People still live simple basic lives, in most instances depending on a daily wage to live for the day and dare not look beyond today at tomorrow. These are the people who have been hit hard by these floods in Johor. THeir livelihood inevitably interrupted for weeks now, which means they will have to depend on government assistance for sustenance and lodgings. 29,000 people have been evacuated. Massive losses are on the cards and the authorities have carefully decided not to mention any figure at the moment.
Singapore will also be looking at this situation with interest. The government's hopes of luring in massive inflow of Singapore money into the South Johor Corridor Project has taken a beating. No one will invest any money in such flood prone areas which arose in the first place due to mismanagement of developmental work. The government will now have to make public pledges to investors that billions of ringgit would be spent to ensure such massive floods don't happen anymore. But talk is cheap. Such proclamations have been made before and nothing has really changed. Crying wolf one too many times, is not a good thing. One thing is for sure - the so-called Iskandar Project is not going to take off even in small bits and pieces any time soon. The damage has already been done, and Singapore money is certainly not going to be parked in Johor anytime soon, despite the Prime Minister and his son-in-law's close friendship with the republic's rulers. ¶ 10:50 AM
Pictures like those splashed in the newspapers today says a thousand words. We are not a developed country, nor are we even close to attaining such a status we desperately sought after. One glance, and a foreigner could have mistaken the picture to come from Bangladesh. What will the politicians say now? Promise more money for flood mitigation works which inevitably will be eaten away by UMNO division heads and other government agencies for other private purposes? Despite talk of bullish economic growth touted by the government, basic infrastructure remains a distance away. People still live simple basic lives, in most instances depending on a daily wage to live for the day and dare not look beyond today at tomorrow. These are the people who have been hit hard by these floods in Johor. THeir livelihood inevitably interrupted for weeks now, which means they will have to depend on government assistance for sustenance and lodgings. 29,000 people have been evacuated. Massive losses are on the cards and the authorities have carefully decided not to mention any figure at the moment.
Singapore will also be looking at this situation with interest. The government's hopes of luring in massive inflow of Singapore money into the South Johor Corridor Project has taken a beating. No one will invest any money in such flood prone areas which arose in the first place due to mismanagement of developmental work. The government will now have to make public pledges to investors that billions of ringgit would be spent to ensure such massive floods don't happen anymore. But talk is cheap. Such proclamations have been made before and nothing has really changed. Crying wolf one too many times, is not a good thing. One thing is for sure - the so-called Iskandar Project is not going to take off even in small bits and pieces any time soon. The damage has already been done, and Singapore money is certainly not going to be parked in Johor anytime soon, despite the Prime Minister and his son-in-law's close friendship with the republic's rulers. ¶ 10:50 AM
