YOURSAY ‘Here in Malaysia, stepping on Najib's photo could land you in jail, but not this when lives are lost.'

MP: Why wasn't Cameron dam water level monitored?

Onyourtoes: This is a typical case of incompetent, lackadaisical and "tidak apa" (never mind) attitude among Malaysians in the public service. Otherwise how do you explain the need to release the water suddenly and such a large quantity?

Other than hydroelectricity generation, are dams not mechanism to regulate the flow of water to prevent floods? If dams were to cause people to die, sweep away cars and destroy homes, what use are they?

Please don't use the standard operating procedures (SOP) crap to protect yourself, TNB (Tenaga Nasional Berhad). This is the most abused term in Malaysia today.

Raub MP Mohd Ariff Sabri Abdul Aziz, I know what the speaker is going to say when you table your emergency motion in Parliament. Yes, the matter is specific because it happened; it was not Pakatan Rakyat's figment of imagination. Yes, the matter is important because people actually died, cars swept away and homes destroyed.

But he will say the matter is not urgent because the authorities are now sorting out the problems there although no one really knows what is being done to prevent a repeat of this tragedy.

Cameron Highlands MP G Palanivel, where are you?

Oldman57: Years ago, it had be said that the dam is not impounding the water due to high silting. That is because of the uncontrolled clearing of the forests and the government or TNB (if they are in charge) are not de-silting the dam regularly. I believe the situation is the same and remains critical.

Otherwise, it is very difficult to understand that due to rain, the dam level becomes dangerous so quickly.

Now a tragedy happened, and I am sure the investigation will result in the same findings, it shows the government never learnt from such tragedies. That is because no one was charge - no accountability, no responsibility.

Tikusmati: As usual, there will be a cover-up. There must be an inquiry on this. All those involved in this were sleeping and surely had no idea of the seriousness of the situation nor knew what to do.

CiViC: In any other country, those responsible would have been in jail by now, and even possibly charged with murder. But what can we expect here in Malaysia,

Stepping on Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak's photo could land you in jail, but not this when lives are lost.

Mohamad Abdul Malik: This is the end result of corruption. All other causes such as the clearing of land illegally, negligence, etc, were just the symptoms of a bigger malaise affecting the country.

Land was able to be cleared illegally because of corruption. Silting of the dam and rivers caused by illegal land clearing was one of the main contributors.

For decades there were too many complaints regarding illegal land clearing in Cameron Highlands but nothing was done because of corruption. So if corruption is not eliminated then more natural disasters will happen.

Antidote: When are we going to learn not to slash hills. I've seen hills cut in half for terrace houses in Cameron Highlands. The TNB dam is old, the people should know it won't be able to hold rising waters due to development. The local council should be held responsible.

Drngsc: My condolences to the families of those who have lost their loved ones. Opening the flood gates of a dam which resulted in people being killed is call murder. The problem in Malaysia is we can have murders without murderer(s).

Call Me Jibby: In developed countries, the relevant minister and the company director would have already resigned. Welcome to Malaysia, where you can spin the truth, blame others for your mistake and pretend nothing happened.

NuckinFuts: We all already know what the official reply will be, right? "You don't like it, go move to higher ground", or "You question the dam management, I kill you."

Banzai: What was the Information Department doing? They should have alerted the people, even in the middle of the night, before the water was released. The death of the three person is unfortunate.

Sad Malaysian: The siren should not to be blame. But why release a sudden rush of tsunami-like torrent.

Look at the cars being thrown about like toys - it showed the amount of water released at the same time. Imagine if the streets were filled with people...

Kusoh: Residents at Bukit Belachan in Ampang face similar disasters quite regularly and the losses are huge, but they suffer in silence.

So if nobody is made accountable, the same thing will keep on happening. There must procedures and perfomance standards for accountability.

YUNoAnon: They can't even control and monitor one dam, and they're allowed to build more. Expect future inland tsunamis.

The above is a selection of comments posted by Malaysiakini subscribers. Only paying subscribers can post comments. Over the past one year, Malaysiakinians have posted over 100,000 comments. Join the Malaysiakini community and help set the news agenda. Subscribe now.