Retiree Donates 60 Chickens To Villagers After Floods Inundate Poultry Pen

TELUK INTAN, Oct 18 (Bernama) -- A retiree donated 60 chickens to villagers after the poultry pen on his farm in Kampung Permatang Pelanduk here was flooded two days ago.

Mohamad Aziz, 69, said that about 60 kampung chickens he had raised since the beginning of the year were given to neighbours to prevent them from being wiped out.

"It's alright. I consider it a donation rather than seeing the chickens destroyed like that. I also suffered losses of thousands of ringgit because machinery and hundreds of young oil palm seedlings in the field were swept away by the flood waters," he said when met on a boat while surveying his inundated farm here today.

Mohamad said a few years ago, he also incurred losses when his goat pen was submerged in flood waters.

Kampung Permatang Pelanduk is among the areas in the Hilir Perak district flooded with up to 3.4- metre deep waters due to the overflow of the Sungai Kinta following the high tide phenomenon over the past two days.

Another resident, Mazlan Md Zin, 45, said he and his family made early preparations following an earlier warning announcement of a high tide phenomenon.

He said he managed to salvage electrical appliances and other important belongings to higher grounds as the high tide phenomenon is expected to last until tomorrow.

"I also made preparations to evacuate to a temporary relief centre (PPS) on the advice of members of the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) who came to monitor the situation," said the father of six.

Meanwhile, Hilir Perak APM officer Captain (PA) Affindi Ishak said the water level rose due to the overflow of the Sungai Kinta, followed by a high tide phenomenon and heavy rain in the area over the past few days.

He also said the phenomenon is expected to continue until tomorrow, causing the river water level to rise by more than three metres.

"As a precautionary measure, we are opening more PPS in preparation of receiving flood victims who have to relocate. We are also monitoring and advising residents to evacuate if the need arises," he added.

-- BERNAMA