Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today called for holistic cooperation in the long term between the federal and Kelantan governments to address the annual floods in the state.

He said it was hoped that the Kelantan government helmed by Menteri Besar Datuk Ahmad Yakob could be open-minded in resolving the problem which the people had to deal with every year.

The best way was to safeguard the environment, protecting the forests, rivers and hills, he said, adding that this could be done through the holistic cooperation.

Ahmad Zahid said this when addressing 1,441 flood evacuees from 653 families at the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Sri Rantau Panjang 2 here.

International Trade and Industry Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, Education Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid, Deputy Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Ahmad Jazlan Yaakub and Rantau Panjang UMNO Division chief Datuk Abdullah Mat Yassin were also present.

Speaking to reporters later, Ahmad Zahid said he would ask Mustapa and Shahidan to meet with Ahmad and come up with the form of coordination between the federal and state governments to address floods in Kelantan.

"Not only in terms of providing aid during and after the floods but finding a long-term solution as a sign of consistency and commitment by the state and federal governments," he said.

Ahmad Zahid said the first step the state government could take was to implement structured and selective logging of forests and reduce felling of forests for opening plantations.

Logging would only cause soil erosion and lead to silting of rivers and increase federal government expenditure to deepen the rivers, he said.

Ahmad Zahid dismissed allegations that the heavy rain and raised river levels in southern Thailand were the cause of the floods in Kelantan, saying Thailand also suffered from floods.

"Such allegations are unfounded. We have received good cooperation from the Government of Thailand, especially the governors of the southern provinces. We hope the false reports can be rectified," he said.

In his speech earlier, Ahmad Zahid said he would ask Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak to approve the purchase of eight amphibious boats to be stationed in Kelantan and Terengganu.

He said he would also instruct Chief of Defence Forces Gen Tan Sri Raja Mohamed Affandi Raja Mohamed Noor to send Tatra trucks to assist in the evacuation of people from flood-hit areas. - Bernama