GEORGETOWN: The Penang government is fast depleting its flood mitigation fund used to tackle flash floods, said state exco member Chow Kon Yeow.

The state local government, traffic management and flood mitigation committee chairman said the fund is now down to some RM10 million.

“Over the last two years, the state government has approved flood mitigation projects statewide worth RM100 million. So we are left with just about RM10 million. If necessary, we will have to tap into ratepayers’ money, which we are collecting via assessments, and surpluses from land sales. We will get support from the state,” he told reporters yesterday at a flood mitigation project in Jalan Hutton in George Town.

It has been a practice since the 1980s for developers with projects in Penang to contribute to the state’s flood mitigation fund.

The amount was RM10,000 per acre (0.4ha) and this has been raised to RM50,000 for each project.

Chow was visiting the site of the latest flood mitigation project in George Town that will tackle flash flood problems in the Jalan Hutton, Jalan Transfer and surrounding areas.— The Malaysian Insider

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on June 9, 2015.