Flood Disasters at Housing Areas in Malaysia: A Planning Law Perspective

• 主要作者: Md Dahlan, Nuarrual Hilal
• 格式: Article
• 語言: English
• 出版: Malaysia Bar 2022
• 主題: K Law (General)
• 在線閱讀: https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/29209/2/INSAF%202022%2039%202%20263-290.pdf; https://repo.uum.edu.my/id/eprint/29209/; https://insaf.malaysianbar.org.my/ojs/index.php/jmr/article/view/14

Floods in housing areas are typical in Malaysia, particularly during monsoon and tropical wet seasons. There are various causes for it. These include heavy monsoon rain, flawed drainage systems, an insufficient planning system, an inadequate flood risk management strategy, exorbitant rainfall, rapid melting snow and ice, dams or levees breaking, and rising ocean storm surge and sea levels. The catastrophe has resulted in pecuniary and non-pecuniary losses to purchaser residents. Flood is one of the important matters that developers must address during the development planning stage. The developer should obtain views and approvals from relevant technical agencies, including the agencies responsible for regulating safety and security against flood disasters, for instance, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS). This article aims to analyse the legal issues relating to floods and examines the related planning law in housing areas. It also provides suggestions for improving the current planning law in dealing with this catastrophe. This study uses legal and qualitative research methodologies, particularly eliciting information through available literature and interviewing the data sources from relevant departmental technical agencies in order to study the problem. The study finds that lacunae in the planning law have contributed to flooding occurrences in housing areas. Specific suggestions are provided to deal with the flood disaster problems. The findings can improve the current policy and planning law in housing development, particularly the housing development guidelines and the current National Housing Policy (DPN) (2018-2025).