Federal government approves RM800 million for flood mitigation in Kelantan

Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today announced a RM800-million federal government allocation for two projects to solve the annual flood woes in Kelantan in the long term.

He said RM300 million of the sum had been set aside for the first phase of a flood mitigation project in Sungai Golok and the remaining RM500 million for the dredging of the Sungai Kelantan estuary and construction of an embankment.

Ahmad Zahid said the Sungai Golok project would be handled by the Drainage and Irrigation Department and was expected to begin in June this year.

"The department is designing the second phase of the project to overcome the flood issue in the long term," he said to reporters here.

Earlier, Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, called at the home of retired military commando Abu Bakar Md Ahmad, 66, in Taman Bukit Senang, Senai, near here. Abu Bakar suffered a stroke two months ago.

"The implementation of the two major projects is an effort to reduce the risk of floods from the overflow of Sungai Kelantan. We expect the projects to be completed in under five years," said Ahmad Zahid.

Ahmad Zahid, who is chairman of the National Disaster Management Committee, said the government wanted the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) to assess the initial phase of the socio-economic damage suffered by the affected people from the end of last December to the first week of this month.

He said the assessment would help the people affected by the floods, and would be undertaken jointly with other agencies such as the Finance Ministry, Economic Planning Unit and the State Education Departments.

"This aspect is an immediate measure that must be given priority to ensure that the people affected in terms of source of income from economic activities or jobs can recover with reasonable assistance," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said compassionate aid would be coordinated by Nadma with the cooperation of the Civil Defence Force and Social Welfare Department based on flood relief centres by zone.

Ahmad Zahid, who is also Home Minister, also said he hoped that the Kelantan government would welcome all the federal government aid and allocation to address the flood problem.

Although the state was administered by the opposition which had a different political affiliation, it should not be a hindrance for cooperation between the two sides, more so in the implementation of the flood mitigation projects, he said.

"A study was conducted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department but we want the state government collaboration because it can involve acquisition of land which comes under the jurisdiction of the state.

"Cooperation is necessary to expedite legal work that can take a long time," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said the Sungai Kelantan embankment project would produce no result if logging continued in the surrounding areas, leading to erosion and silting of the river.

On the issue of shortage of food, especially fish, during the current monsoon season, he said discussions had been held with the Fisheries Development Authority of Malaysia to ensure sufficient stocks.

"However, generally, we know that prices will rise because demand exceeds supply, but we will try as much as possible to make price adjustments so as not to overly burden the consumers," he said. -- Bernama