Floods: 267 Telecommunication Towers Restored, 56 Still Inoperative: Fahmi

PUTRAJAYA, Dec 6 (Bernama) -- A total of 267 telecommunication towers affected by the recent floods have been fully restored and are operational as of 9 am today, while 56 towers remain offline, Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil said. 

He said 323 communication towers were impacted by the floods across four states. Among them, 264 are located in Kelantan, 49 in Terengganu, nine in Pahang and one in Johor.

The floods also disrupted operations at 91 National Information Dissemination Centres (NADI); of those, 81 have resumed operations, while 10 are still not functional, Fahmi added. 

He also said that as of 9 am today, 120 temporary evacuation centres remain operational to accommodate flood victims.

“The Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) has installed free Wi-Fi at 23 relief centres to assist evacuees. At the same time, MCMC continues to remain on high alert to ensure swift action on telecommunication issues in the event of future floods,” he told a press conference today.

Meanwhile, Fahmi said Deputy Communications Minister Teo Nie Ching is en route to Raub, Pahang, alongside a team from the MCMC to assist with post-flood clean-up efforts and address telecommunication issues in the area.

He said MCMC is conducting daily reviews to monitor and update the status of affected telecommunication towers to ensure they are promptly restored.

Fahmi also said Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reported during today’s Cabinet meeting that the cumulative number of flood victims nationwide has surpassed 222,000 individuals, affecting 70,706 families.

At its peak, over 150,000 flood evacuees were sheltered at relief centres.

However, as of noon today, the number of evacuees has decreased significantly to 25,599 individuals across 96 relief centres, Fahmi added. 

-- BERNAMA