Revisiting Kampong Manek Urai Lama with the Ketua Gabungan Impian Kelantan (GIK) and DAP MP for Seremban Anthony Loke and other GIK Committee Members including Young Syefura (Rara), Dr. Tajuddin Shaffee and Vincent Wu, and just now Kuala Krai is like returning to the Ground Zero zones of the worst floods disaster in Kelantan in living memory at the end of last year.
During the two-week parliamentary meeting, Pakatan Rakyat MPs have raised many questions and issues about the floods catastrophe in Kelantan at the end of last year.
It was not possible to avoid the 2014 floods catastrophe, but the damage could have been minimized as not to lead to the loss of 25 lives, creating a million floods victims with quarter of million flood evacuees, and causing billions of ringgit of damages if there had been better floods management preparedness and plans in all three phases of response, relief and reconstruction.
In Parliament yesterday, I had queried the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim to seek an assurance from the Federal Government that it would not take a whole year for Kelantan to fully recover from the devastation of the worst floods in living memory last year.
In his answer in Parliament to my question asking for the amounts the Federal Government had allocated and distributed for repair and restoration works in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang after last year’s floods, Shahidan also mentioned about the Federal Government’s plans to build 1,346 houses in Kelantan state.
However, not a single house had yet been built by the Federal Government although nearly three months have passed since the floods catastrophe. This was why I queried whether the Federal Government would take up to a year or more before Kelantan can fully recover from the devastation of the floods catastrophe at the end of last year.
In the recent floods catastrophe, the NGOs and NGIs rose up to the occasion to the rescue of the flood-stricken flood victims some of whom were left without food, water, shelter, electricity or communications for several days at a stretch.
Shahidan should give an assurance in Parliament in the reply stage next week that such a shocking breakdown of Federal and State Government floods disaster management plans in response, relief and rehabilitation will not be allowed to recur in the future.
(Media Statement after visiting Kg Manek Urai Lama amjd Kuala Krai on Friday,20th March 2015)