KUALA LUMPUR: Penang has been under the strain of overdevelopment of hillslopes and extensive sea reclamations since DAP took over Penang in 2008.
Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the state had also failed to upgrade the drainage capacity which unable to handle a large volume of water.
"The drainage system should be upgraded accordingly, and water catchment areas should be managed properly so that surface runoff can be kept under control," he told the Dewan Rakyat today in reply to a query from Datuk Shabudin Yahaya (BN-Tasek Gelugor) during the Minister's Question and Answer (MQT) session.
Shahidan said the recent floods in Penang carried an enormous amount of silt and this showed evidence of indiscriminate cutting of hillslopes.
The Penang government has consistently denied that extensive development in the state was the cause of flash floods in the state.
Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has reportedly said the most recent floods in Penang were a natural disaster.
Reports by ARFA YUNUS, BEATRICE NITA JAY and FERNANDO FONG