By Christopher Lidom
KUCHING, March 12: All government agencies and departments involved in flood operations throughout the region are on standby due to the unpredictable monsoon season, says Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.
The Deputy Premier said they are not only prepared for flood occurrences, but also landslides, road access disruption and many others.
“I have also directed Public Works Department (JKR) Sarawak especially in the northern region to be on standby mode, because that is the area where most of the roads are logging roads and are prone to damaged.
“This is to make sure that if there is a road access cut-off, we can immediately restore it as soon as possible,” he told reporters when visiting the flood relief centre (PPS) in Kampung Sungai Bedaun, here today.
Meanwhile, Uggah, who is also Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said SDMC will submit a proposal to both Sarawak and federal governments to get allocations for clearing shallow rivers which have contributed to the floods.
He said for many areas in Sarawak, especially in rural areas, flooding is caused by shallow rivers.
“We already have the list of the rivers from the Irrigation and Drainage Department (DID).
“If we get the allocation this year, maybe by August we will have completed clearing some of the critical rivers.
In the PPS in Kampung Sungai Bedaun, Uggah also presented food aid contributions to a representative, before leaving to visit a second PPS in Dewan Sinaran Kampung Sungai Lumut. — DayakDaily
