AMPANG: The Flood Forecasting and Warning System (PRAB) is in need of extra funding to conduct more research on the increasing flood prone areas in the country.
Natural Resources and Environment Minister, Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said to date, a new study on rainfall distribution in all the states is being conducted by the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID) and National Hydraulic Research Institute of Malaysia (Nahrim).
He said the study was important to identify measures to prevent flash floods and draw up new flood mitigation plans.
"The amount of the additional cost needed has yet to be determined. But I am certain there will be an increase in the number of river basins in PRAB.
"We can only finalise the additional cost once we have received the research data from DID and Nahrim. We are expecting it to be completed sometime in April," he said after launching the National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre here.
The PRAB system was set up in 2014, after the major floods in the east coast states of Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.
The system will be implemented in three phases and will involve 40 river basins nationwide.
It could predict flash floods at 70 per cent of areas nationwide and it is expected to be completed by 2022 with the estimated intial allocation of RM550 million.
"We aim to identify new areas throughout the country that had never been hit by flash floods before," he said.
Wan Junaidi said the PRAB system could predict a flood at least seven days before the disaster and improve the system's announcement and alerting capabilities.