Malaysia incurs loss of RM6.1 bln following nationwide floods - DOSM

KUALA LUMPUR: The floods that hit the country at the end of last year and early this year have resulted in losses amounting to RM6.1 billion, equivalent to 0.4 per cent of the nominal Gross Domestic Product, according to the Department of Statistics Malaysia (DOSM).

Director-general Datuk Seri Dr Mohd Uzir Mahidin said based on the '2021 Special Report on Impact of Floods' in Malaysia which was released today, public assets and infrastructure suffered the highest loss of RM2.0 billion, followed by housing (RM1.6 billion) and vehicles (RM1.0 billion).

Meanwhile, he said the manufacturing sector suffered a loss of RM0.9 billion, followed by business premises (RM0.5 billion) and agriculture (RM90.6 million).

The report, which presents the impact of floods, case studies around the Klang Valley and socio-economic statistics at the district level, was obtained based on a special survey to assess the impact of floods conducted from Dec 30 until Jan 27 (yesterday).

DOSM uses face-to-face census in the affected areas using questionnaires, observation methods and telephone calls in addition to administrative data obtained from various agencies as data collection for the survey.

The affected states are Johor, Kelantan, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Selangor, Terengganu, Sabah, Sarawak, and Kuala Lumpur.

Based on the report, Selangor state recorded the highest losses for categories involving residential, manufacturing sector, vehicles and business premises.

For the residential category, Mohd Uzir said Selangor also stood out with a loss of RM1 billion, followed by Pahang (RM425.6 million) and Melaka (RM69.7 million).

"The district that recorded the highest loss in Selangor for the residential category was Petaling (RM258 million), followed by Hulu Langat (RM253.6 million) and Klang (RM252.8 million)," he said.

For vehicles, the three states posting the highest losses were Selangor at RM855 million, Pahang (RM78.2 million) and Negeri Sembilan (RM18.3 million).

"in Selangor, Petaling district recorded the highest loss for vehicle damage amounting RM328.3 million, followed by Klang (RM276.9 million) and Hulu Langat (RM155.5 million)," he said.

Mohd Uzir said for the manufacturing sector, Selangor recorded a total loss of RM884.5 million, followed by Pahang (RM5.6 million) and Negeri Sembilan (RM1.2 million).

"Selangor also recorded losses of business premises amounting to RM396.4 million. Pahang was the second highest state (RM83.8 million) and then Johor (RM13.8 million)," he said.

He said other studies that had been carried out by DOSM in flood-hit states were also included in the report to help consumers understand the adverse effects of flooding in the country.

-- BERNAMA