Flood victims across Sarawak are pleading for help, claiming their BN reps aren’t around.
Deputy Chief Minister Alfred Jabu Anak Numpang has come under fire for his “below par performance” in handling the recent floods which occurred in several areas in the state. According to Sarawak PKR vice-chairman See Chee How, Jabu, who heads the state disaster and reflied management committee, “keep disappearing” everytime there are floods in the state.
“I am very disappointed with him. He keeps on disappearing whenever Sarawak is hit with floods. So far he has given two press conferences regarding the floods and relief assistance.”
“I must say that his performance as the state disaster and relief management committee chairman is really below par,” said See, who is also Batu Lintang state assemblyman.
He said he had received many complaints from flood victims of their inability to seek assistance from the state government and the state flood operations room.
He added that the operations room should inform the public of its contact numbers when there are floods occurring in their areas.
“I feel that the disaster and relief management committee is led by a wrong person,” he said, adding that he himself was in the dark as to what is happening with flood victims outside of Kuching.
Jabu, he said, was not giving out any status updates or information about the flood victims.
See drew a comparison between former deputy chief minister Dr George Chan and Jabu, saying Chan had always been on the ground giving reporters the latest updates on the flood situation.
Prior to his loss in the Piasau constituency in the April state election last year, Chan oversaw the state’s disaster and relief programme.
See urged Jabu to buck up, and be more responsible towards the flood victims.
No help from BN leaders
See, who visited Siburan last night, said he had been receiving calls that some parts of the area were under one metre of water, after a downpour over the last 24 hours.
“They (residents) have been calling their Barisan Nasional’s elected representative to attend to their problems, but nobody came, so they called us,” he said.
Taman Durandah Emas in Siburan, which is under the Bengoh state constituency, was the worst affected area.
Kuching and Samaharan divisions suffered their worst floods in the first weeks of the New Year when several schools were closed and roads were impassable to traffic.
More than 4,000 people were evacuated from their homes while their paddy farms and vegetable gardens were damaged causing the prices of green vegetables to soar, especially in the Kuching markets.
Thousands of people who spent their Christmas and New Year holidays in longhouses and villages were unable to return to Kuching as several parts of the Kuching-Miri trunk road were flooded.
Four persons were killed in the floods including two at Batu Lintang area, where an upper six student Kho Ying Oi, 19, slipped into a monsoon drain.
A Shell station worker Herman Sihas, 29, who saw her struggling in the raging water, jumped into the drain to save her. Unfortunately both drowned.
In Lundu, two Indonesian workers, Herman Ariwi Bowo, 22, and Franstya Eka Putra, 21, both from Gembuk, drowned when they slipped while crossing a river on Jan 6.
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