Nowhere to go, evacuees stay put at flooded relief centre

Heavy rain since Tuesday has not only flooded houses in a village but the evacuation centre as well, leaving the villagers stranded with no place to go.

The Kampung Tasek relief centre hall here was submerged in flood waters that rose to the waist level and the evacuees had no choice but to remain at the centre as there was no other building that can be considered safe in the area.

The Kampung Tasek Village Development and Security Committee chairman Junus @ Ramli Samad said the situation was not new to them as it has been happening for the past 10 years.

"In the past 10 years, every time there was a major flood this is what we go through...our relief centre would be submerged in flood waters. We have appealed for the construction of a new relief centre. The site has been approved by the Setiu Land and District Office but construction has yet to start," he told Bernama here Wednesday.

Junus said he had requested the state government to expedite the construction of the new relief centre as more villagers would seek shelter at the centre.

"There is a big number of evacuees... since Tuesday we have 154 victims from 55 families, here," he said.

Suhaimi Abdul Razak, 57, one of the victims hoped the new centre would be built soon.

"We moved to evacuation centre here... but the centre is also flooded. Yesterday we were a bit worried when the water rose suddenly and did not know where to go if this centre is flooded. We really hope the government will expedite the construction," he said.

Meanwhile, in Kuala Berang, flooded main roads that were not passable for light vehicles caused major problems for residents as they could not go to work.

Some took a lift from bulldozers provided by the government.

Kuala Berang Post Office staff, Mohd Masri Taib, 40, said the situation had caused a bit of difficulty for him to perform his duty but took the initiative to use an alternative road to ensure letters could be delivered.

"In urban areas we can still deliver the letters but we cannot go inland and use the routes. So we will be contacting customers to inform them. If there are important packages or letters we will try to deliver them or request the customers to collect them at the post office," he said. - Bernama