A senator who has grown weary of the frequency of flash floods to hit the nation's capital offered an extraordinary suggestion in the Dewan Negara today.

Dr Mohd Puad Zarkashi proposed that Kuala Lumpur be moved to another location so that it will be known as the "ibu kota tanpa lumpur" or 'capital without mud'.

According to Bernama , he said geographically, Kuala Lumpur is situated in a valley which is prone to flooding and has a very high population, making it a dense area.

"So instead of spending billions of Ringgit in trying to resolve the flood problems, it will be better if we move Kuala Lumpur to another location and call it 'ibu kota tanpa lumpur'," he said, drawing laughter from the other senators.

Mohd Puad referred to the flash floods which hit the capital on Jun 10 and the Smart (Stormwater Management and Road Tunnel) tunnel's failure in preventing this.

No compensation

Parliamentary secretary to the Federal Territories Ministry, Yew Teong Lock, who was also tickled by the suggestion, clarified that the Smart tunnel was not completed when the floods hit.

"It was only completed two weeks after the floods happened, so we cannot prove that the Smart tunnel has been ineffective," he said.

"But according to DBKL's (Kuala Lumpur City Hall) calculation and also that of JPS (Irrigation and Drainage Department), since the Smart tunnel is now operating, huge floods can be overcome," he added.

To an additional question from Senator G K Loga Chitra, who asked if businessmen who suffered losses amounting to millions because of the floods will be compensated, Yew said there will be no compensation as the incident is considered a natural disaster.

Earlier, in response to another question from Loga Chitra who wanted to know what proactive measures are being taken by DBKL to overcome the flood woes in Kuala Lumpur, Yew said this included long and short term measures.

The short term measures are periodical checks on rivers and streams, while the long term measures include upgrading works and the construction of water retention ponds and a flood control pump station.