Malaysia should adopt more environment-friendly policies or risk being “punished” in natural disasters like the last year east coast floods, said Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak.

Citing the floods as an example, Najib  hinted that a greener approach will be implemented by the government in the coming years as a part of its philosophy in line with the 11th Malaysia Plan (11MP).

“We have to be a government that practices environment-friendly policies.

“Last year’s big floods are a lesson to us.

“If we don’t take care of the environment, we will be punished,” he told a gathering of civil servants at Putrajaya today.

 

The floods in late December last year displaced more than 200,000 victims from Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak and Kedah with several hundred families are still living in tents, six months after the disaster.

 

Najib ( photo ) who was seen playing golf with American President Barack Obama in the US at that time, was pressured to come home before he called back his cabinet, which was on its traditional year-end vacation, with some having gone overseas, to focus on the floods.

 

The federal government had also promised to build 1,255 new permanent house units, and repair 1,209 houses of flood victims in the state.

 

On May 26, only seven had been fully built with 128 units targetted to be completed before the Aidilfitri celebration in August.

 

 Najib also said that the country is now in the nation building process which emphasised on ‘wassatiyyah’ or moderation, as well as multiracial harmony as outlined in 1Malaysia principles.

 

"We must be the government that brings the enhancement of nationalities, multi-ethnic unity and solidarity among others. Everything is centred on the wasatiyyah philosophy and based on the principle of 1Malaysia.

 

"We have accomplished some great achievements (in five years) but there is always space to upgrade and repair what is wrong. There is still space for us to realise our dreams as Malaysians," he added.