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MALAYSIA: The Malaysian government says the drainage system in Johor was inadequate to cope with the recent exceptionally heavy rain.
The Malaysian Environment Minister Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid says the government was "not ready".
Last week, the Chief Minister of Johor state, blamed the devastation on Singapore's reclamation works at Pulau Tekong.
The recent floods wiped out much of Johor.
The rain was the worst in nearly 40 years and killed at least 15.
Last week, the Chief Minister of Johor state, Abdul Ghani Othman, blamed reclamation works at Pulau Tekong as the cause of the narrowing of the Sungei Johor River mouth, impeding drainage in the state.
But the Malaysian central government stepped in, saying it wanted to carry out a study to determine the cause of the flood.
Initially, it said all sorts of allegations were surfacing and the real cause of the flooding was the exceptionally heavy rainfall.
But now the central government is pointing to another cause.
Datuk Seri Azmi Khalid, Minister, Malaysia’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, said: "It was much, much higher than the highest rainfall in the past 100 years. And we're not ready for this kind of thing."
But the Minister distanced the government from comments made by the Johor Chief Minister, blaming Singapore's reclamation works as the cause of the flooding.
He said: "It's not conclusive because it didn't come from us. So it is not a government official view."
So poor infrastructure and heavy rain are being blamed for the floods.
But Malaysia is planning to carry out a technical study and that should reveal the finer details to the cause of the floods that forced more than 100,000 people into emergency shelters.
The Malaysian Minister is in Singapore as part of an annual exchange of visits, between the environment ministers of both countries.
The Ministers discussed issues such as the control of vehicular emissions and haze.
Dr Yaacob Ibrahim, Environment & Water Resources Minister, said: "We're all equally concerned because this year is a likelihood of an El Nino year. It's going to be a dry year and if the haze comes about again, we have to be able to put our plans quickly in place."
This is the 20th time the environment ministers are meeting under the annual exchange of visits. - CNA/so
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