Floods: Melaka Residents Want River Maintenance Work Carried Out To Prevent Recurrence

JASIN, Oct 8 (Bernama) -- Flood victims in Kampung Parit Lambong and Kampung Tanjong Laboh here want the state government and the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (JPS) to take immediate action, including carrying out maintenance on the river and ditches that are filled with grass and garbage in the area.

One of the flood victims, 37-year-old Zunah Y Abdul Jaapar, who is five months pregnant, said this should be tackled immediately as the village is now more frequently hit by floods each time it rains, especially if it’s for more than four hours.

"Last month (September), our house was inundated. This time the same, with the water rising to calf level and, worse still, there is stagnant water and we don’t know when it will subside.

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"This is not something new and the affected villagers are hoping that the relevant parties, especially JPS, will carry out more systematic maintenance and clear the grass and garbage in the river and ditches as they obstruct water flow,” said Zunah, who has been sheltering in the temporary relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Tehel since yesterday.

Senior State Executive Councillor for Housing, Local Government, Drainage, Climate Change and Disaster Management Datuk Rais Yasin said they have instructed the state JPS to clean up the river in Jasin immediately as a short-term solution to overcoming flooding problems in the district.

"We are always concerned with such incidents and it is learnt that this is a flood-prone area. As such, I have instructed the JPS to monitor and carry out an immediate clean-up of the river and ditches, which are the cause of floods in the area.

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"To avoid a worse situation, I have also instructed JPS and the Bemban State Legislative Assembly Development and Coordination Committee (Japerun) to conduct monitoring to find the cause and solution to this flooding problem,” he said after handing over donations to the flood-hit residents at SK Tehel today.

As of tonight, 22 people from six families from the two flood-hit villages are still sheltering at the SK Tehel relief centre after their areas were inundated following heavy rain on Sunday (Oct 7).

-- BERNAMA