Malaysia: Flash floods hit Bertam Valley again

AUDREY DERMAWAN AND FAZLEENA AZIZ New Straits Times 8 Nov 14;

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: A SECOND wave of flash floods hit Kampung Baru Ringlet here yesterday afternoon.

The incident occurred less than 48 hours after the mud floods on Wednesday evening and it sent residents scrambling for safety.

A downpour that began at 1.45pm yesterday caused dozens of houses to be inundated in calf-deep mud water.

In the lower-lying areas, the water rose as high as the residents’ necks. Some were trapped inside their houses.

However, the floodwaters subsided not long after that.

At the height of the flash floods and with water running fast from the nearby Ringlet River, the authorities ordered the residents to vacate their houses.

R. Marryalen, 32, who is attached with the Civil Defence Department here, said everything happened so fast.

“It was raining heavily and within five minutes, the floodwaters rose to my neck level. I made my way out of the house and onto higher ground.

“I could only watch helplessly as my belongings were swept away. Everything was damaged,” she said, adding that something needed to be done by the authorities to remedy the situation.

Echoing her sentiments was Randy Chok, 75, who has been staying in the area for more than 50 years.

“I haven’t even finished cleaning my house after Wednesday’s mud floods and it’s filthy again. How can this be? We cannot live in fear, day in day out. Enough is enough.”

The remedy, according to Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G. Palanivel, may not be too far away.

He said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak had agreed to fast-track a proposal to be submitted by the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) on remedial works to be done on the river as a short-term measure to end floods in the highlands area.

Palanivel, who is also Cameron Highlands member of parliament, said DID was working on the proposal, to be completed and submitted “as soon as possible”.

Meanwhile, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin would chair the Cabinet Committee on Natural Disasters meeting on Monday.

“Cameron Highlands is like a ticking time bomb for disaster, waiting to explode at any time,” he said during a visit to the control centre in Bertam Valley here yesterday, specifically set up following Wednesday’s mudslides and flash floods in various areas.

Shahidan vowed stern action against illegal farm operators, along with their illegal foreign workers.

He said he took a ride on a helicopter and discovered a new site being cleared illegally, adding that the authorities had not issued any temporary occupation licence for farming for the past 10 years.

Deputy Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid concurred, saying that illegal clearing and the indiscriminate dumping of rubbish had contributed to the floods.

He said three tonnes of rubbish had been collected from the Ringlet River on Wednesday night alone.

Mahdzir said illegal farming had also eaten into the 20m river reserve upstream and downstream, causing the river to overflow every time it rained heavily.

Yesterday, the remains of an Indonesian couple, identified as Suwalis and Yunita, aged 40 and 41, respectively, were found in the kongsi house they lived in along Sungai Kabok in Bertam Valley. They were reported missing on Wednesday night.

Yunita’s body was found at 11.05am and her husband’s five minutes later. They were still lying under their blanket, buried under less than 1m of earth.

The discovery of their bodies brings the death toll of Wednesday’s floods to five.

Meanwhile, residents affected by the flash floods said they did not mind being relocated.

“It is not necessary (for us to be given) a house. We would be happy if we are given a plot of land to build a new house,” said Kampung Baru Ringlet resident Jamil Abdullah, 56.

Jamil, who was staying in Bertam Valley when the area was hit by last year’s mud floods that claimed four lives, said his house was badly affected by the mud floods then, which prompted the authorities to move them to Kampung Baru Ringlet while awaiting a new site.

“We were told then that a new site will be ready within six months.

“It’s been a year and nothing is materialising. Don’t talk about a new house as our temporary house has been damaged now. Where are we going to stay?”

Ganeshan Adidevan, 54, who lost RM80,000 in last year’s mud floods, expressed disappointment that such an incident had recurred.

“Our farm and house were destroyed last year. This year, the same happened again. I don’t know where my wife and three children will be staying now.”