KUALA LUMPUR: Despite its substantial cost of RM129 million, the first phase of the National Flood Forecast and Warning Programme (PRAB) is not effective in alerting the public about impending floods.
The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) said the medium used was up-to-date and required speedier information dissemination, such as the Commercial Mobile Alert System (CMAS).
"The flood forecasting accuracy rate at 5.6 per cent does not meet the target as intended in PRAB, despite RM129 million spent for the purpose," said PAC chairman Datuk Mas Ermieyati Samsudin in a statement today.
This was among the seven conclusions made by PAC, following the 2022 Auditor General's report that highlighted several shortcomings in the programme.
PAC said the cost of the second phase of PRAB, initially at RM385 million, had increased to RM522 million following the addition of siren systems, web cameras and the Communication, Educational and Public Awareness (Cepa) programme.
"PAC also found the weakness of the PRAB contract, which does not include a 'penalty clause', resulting in a lack of execution of preventative maintenance.
"The upgrade of the 3G network to 4G under the National Digital Network (Jendela) programme caused issues with data transmission from stations to the gateway to persist for more than three consecutive months.
"This was due to the contract for PRAB utilising the current network of 2G or 3G," she said.
She added the Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change(NRECC), now known as the Energy Transition and Water Transformation Ministry (Petra), through the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) had upgraded the remote terminal unit (RTU) to use 4G at 39 out of 118 stations to address the issue of delayed data reception and data not being received.
As such, Mas Ermieyati said PAC had made six recommendations to address the issues.
"Among them is that Petra and DID must ensure that they carry out RTU replacements at 79 out of 118 flood warning stations. This is to ensure that the PRAB functions well.
"The ministry and department must ensure that all planned contracts consider technological advancement.
"The ministry and the department must also ensure that phases 2 and 3 of PRAB are completed on time and within budget," she said, adding that DID must also ensure that the maintenance works were being done according to the schedule.
She said Petra and DID had been given two months to take action, before calling them back for a follow-up proceeding.