Elderly couple refuse to ditch livestock despite floods

KEMAMAN: “It’s not that we do not want to move, but we are worried that our goats and ducks will be stolen."

That was the reason given by elderly couple, Kamsinah Tubin, 63, and her husband Mohd Yusof Sulong, 65, from Kampung Pulau Tempurung here who refused to move to a temporary evacuation centre even though their house was flooded.

Kamsinah said she and her husband had already built a high loft next to her house as a temporary shelter in case their house was flooded.

“Usually, my house is not affected by the floods, only the surrounding area. That is why there was no need to move. Who would look after the goats and ducks if we move,” she said when met by reporters at her house during a check by members of the Rescue Squad from the Kemaman district police office in Kampung Pulau Tempurung here, yesterday.

Kamsinah who started livestock farming 20 years ago now has over 50 animals under her care.

Asked about food supply and other necessities, Kamsinah said she had bought the items in advance as a precautionary measure.

Meanwhile, Kampung Pulau Tempurung Village Community Management Council (MPKK) chairman, Mohd Azam Ismail said the refusal of some residents, especially senior citizens to move, inconvenienced the rescue team.

“At 3 am today, MPKK and the police tried to persuade a senior citizen couple to evacuate but they were stubborn. Suddenly at 12 noon, they received a phone call from these folks asking for help because the wife who had diabetes had symptoms of hypoglycemia.

“There was another case of an elderly couple who asked for help to take the paralysed husband to their son's house because the route to their house was flooded this afternoon,” he said.

-- BERNAMA