KUCHING, Nov 1: Bintulu incumbent Dato Sri Tiong King Sing has requested Bintulu District Disaster Management Committee (DDMC) to hold an emergency meeting at 9am this Friday (Nov 4) to deliberate on recent flash floods in five local villages.
He said he had requested for the presence of relevant government departments such as Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), Public Works Department (PWD) and the Bintulu Land and Survey Department, as well as all project owners, consultants and contractors in person.
“Their decision makers must attend the meeting in person, rather than sending people just to show their faces, take notes, but without any decision making authority to deal with the issue at hand.
“Sending messengers won’t solve the issue and will only treat the people’s welfare as a joke!” he said in a statement today.
According to his service centre team which inspected flood mitigation facilities in Bintulu, human negligence in some ongoing projects can be blamed for the flash floods that occurred.
“The importance of good flood drainage has been ignored with so many omissions and defects in the design of drains, lack of dredging work, and drains not widened enough.
“Continuing down this road will lead to more wasted funds and resources, while the flood mitigation system which had been effective, will be left to rot,” he added.
Thus, he insisted, the persons-in-charge of the large scale projects within Bintulu to take these flooding episodes seriously and actively take steps to solve the issues.
“They must quit the attitude of taking the money and leaving the rest to ruin,” he emphasised.
Last night (Oct 31), Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) reported that five villages in Bintulu were struck by flash floods beginning 11pm following heavy downpour.
The areas involved were Kampung Kemunting, Kampung Assyakirin Phase 1 and 2, Kampung Baru, Bukit Orang and Desa Damai.
Due to the rising water level, a total of 77 residents from 25 families were evacuated from their homes to Bintulu Civic Centre. — DayakDaily
