Kuching (Dec 27, 2011): Deputy Chief Minister Tan Sri Alfred Jabu Numpang came under fire today for being irresponsible for not updating the people of Sarawak on the flood situation.
"Where is Jabu, who took over from Tan Sri Dr George Chan as chairman of the state disaster and relief management committee, now?
"I hope he will be more responsible, at least giving a daily briefing to the press so that they, in turn, will inform the general public on the current flood situation," Sarawak PKR vice chairman See Chee How told reporters today.
"Let the people know, especially the travelling public, on the areas affected by the floods," he said.
"If Jabu is on leave now, he must recall himself and go and visit the flooded areas," See, the Batu Lintang state assemblyman, said.
He said he had not heard of Jabu visiting the flooded areas or flood victims.
He charged that Jabu, by not giving a daily briefing, was deliberately keeping the public in the dark.
“The travelling public wants to know which areas or roads are flooded so that they would not go there or postponed their trip. But without such information, they are not able to know,” he said.
Meanwhile, a total of 2825 victims from 726 families from Kuching district were at nine relief centres as at 11.45am today.
He said 1,435 victims from 288 families from Kampung Simpok were taking shelter at SK St Peter while 458 victims from 115 families from Kampung Beradek were staying at SK Beradek.
“A total of 294 victims from 252 families from Kampung Semilang are sheltered at Masjid/Tadika Kemas at the village,” he said after being briefed by Deputy Resident of Kuching Division, Zamahari Saidi.
The other evacuees are 138 from 31 families from Kampung Tupong Jaya sheltered at Dewan Kampung Tupong, 47 from nine families from Kampung Sungai Maong at Masjid Darul Istiqah, 95 from 19 families from Kampung Sungai Laru at Balairaya Kampung Sungai Laru and 38 from nine families from Kampung Semariang Teruntum at Dewan Baru Semariang Batu.
See said that two relief centres at SK Tupong and Tadika Kemas of Kampung Gita, which houses 10 families from Kampung Tupong and Kampung Gita Lama and Laut, had been closed since it was safe for them to return home.
He said he was informed that all the evacuees were expected to return home by tomorrow if the weather continued to improve.
He said Kuching Division, covering the administrative districts of Bau, Lundu and Kuching, was the worst affected by the floods in Sarawak.
See questioned the effectiveness of the RM148m phase one of the flood mitigation canal in minimising the flood situation in Kuching and Bau districts.
“It was supposed to drain away excess rain water from Sarawak Kiri River to Salak River, passing through Santubong and into the sea.
“But instead, the excess rain water from the catchment continues to flow through Sarawak Kiri River, thus causing floods in Petra Jaya, Semariang and Tupong,” he said.
He said it was supposed to reduce incidence of flooding in Upper Padawan area, but it did not.
“Kampung Simpok in Padawan is one of the worst affected areas in Kuching district,” he said.
He said the reply he received from Assistant Minister of Environment Datuk Len Talif Salleh was that the phase one, involving the construction of a diversion canal, was sufficient to reduce floodings in Petra Jaya, Tupong and Semariang.
“So, I am quite puzzled as to the effectiveness of the flood mitigation canal,” he said, adding that whole flood mitigation project was estimated to cost RM2 billion.
ends
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