KUALA LUMPUR:Thirty monitoring stations to be set up under a RM40 million 2021 Budget allocation are not limited to detecting water contamination but are also capable of detecting various types of environmental pollution.

Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man said that the construction of these stations was expected to address all previous weaknesses.

"Apart from monitoring stations, the ministry also intends to install monitoring systems in river basins to monitor water levels to provide early signals, especially concerning floods,” he said when winding-up the debate on the Supply Bill 2021 in the Dewan Rakyat today.

He said that at the moment his ministry is still in discussions and has yet to decide on which company will be appointed.

The said allocation is part of a RM500 million allocation to preserve natural resources through the implementation of several initiatives announced in the 2021 Budget.

On the flash flood problems in the capital, Tuan Ibrahim said that the river widening measure could not be implemented as all the rivers had reached full capacity due to development factors, instead the best step was to build a flood reservoir which could be drained in a controlled manner.

"Therefore, cooperation between local authorities (PBT) and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID) is necessary to address the problem of flooding that often occurs in the capital, especially when it rains heavily,” he said.

In another development, Tuan Ibrahim said that the community is increasingly concerned about pollution, based on the increased number of reports received by the DOE hotline 1-800-88-2727.

He said that last year a total of 3,308 complaints were received while for this year, as at early this month, there were 2,650 complaints recorded.

“Complaints related to environmental crimes can be channelled to the 999. Once the 999 line and DOE hotline are integrated, it will enable case reports to be managed more efficiently and immediate action can be taken,” he said.

-- BERNAMA