Floods: JKR ordered to immediately repair badly damaged roads in Sarawak

The Star

The Public Works Department (JKR) has been instructed to take immediate action to repair roads damaged by heavy rains and floods affecting several areas in Sarawak.  Sarawak Deputy Premier and Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman, Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said that although the full extent of the damage to the Pan Borneo Highway has yet to be determined, repairs in critical areas must be prioritised.  Read more at https://tinyurl.com/2tp22ykm  WATCH MORE: https://thestartv.com/c/news SUBSCRIBE: https://cutt.ly/TheStar LIKE: https://fb.com/TheStarOnline

Transcript

00:00As of today, the total number of temporary shelters in Sarawak is 48.

00:108 in Bendulu, 18 in Seriat, 5 in Samarahan, 5 in Kuching,

00:277 in Miri, 3 in Sibu.

00:33And we have 1 temporary shelter for the displaced, 1 in Miri,

00:41and 1 in Benawit.

00:48The total number of families in Sarawak is 1,545.

00:56And the total population is 5,561.

01:01This morning, we held a meeting of the SDMC,

01:08together with Bendulu and several agencies,

01:13such as the Central Police, MPM, World Care Department,

01:18and Womba MPM.

01:23This afternoon, our company, PDM,

01:27which is responsible for the support for Bendulu,

01:31this afternoon to see the situation on the ground.

01:35Bendulu, we were told, they were facing unprecedented floods.

01:41We have never seen such a huge flood in Bendulu.

01:47We were able to coordinate all the agencies that helped.

01:53First, we helped to relocate the displaced to temporary shelters.

02:04At the same time, we monitored the affected residents,

02:11to make sure that nobody was injured.

02:17So, we are trying our very best to ease the burden of our people.

02:27Whenever the agencies ask us to move, we have to move.

02:33Can you comment on the rescue process that took place in Bendulu yesterday?

02:38Yesterday, early in the morning, there was a lot of help from the SDMC.

02:47Yes, we were aware of the situation in Bendulu.

02:53According to the people's department, the rainfall was about 400 mm.

03:04In Sarawak, our average rainfall was 5,000 mm per year.

03:10But in Bendulu, it was about 400 mm.

03:14Then you can see the density of the rainfall.

03:20And the rain is not due to the location of the drain, but the flood.

03:24So, it happened suddenly.

03:27It so happened during the Chinese New Year.

03:30So, this is a challenging task.

03:34No matter what, they were trying their very best.

03:38I think they have done their very best.

03:40And then they can mobilize support from Miri, from Sibu, from Bendulu,

03:44to complete the vehicles that are needed,

03:49so that the people can be relocated to temporary shelters.

03:53What is your advice to the displaced?

03:59My advice is to ask them to relocate.

04:03Because that will be the safest thing to do.

04:07If they live in a house, they will know that the flood situation is not good,

04:12and that will shatter their lives.

04:14In the morning, there were a lot of houses and tents that were cut off.

04:19At that time, there was no flood.

04:22But after the flood was cut off, we will provide food supplies to them.

04:28Since you are a minister, how many people have been displaced?

04:34Now, we are still counting.

04:38The latest is at Ben Bonio.

04:45And then we have one also in Mombong, in Pedawan area.

04:50Now, I cannot give you the figure, but we keep on counting.

04:53We will report that later on.

04:56We are mobilizing our JKR to do immediate repair.

05:00Because like in Mombong, it is quite bad.

05:05Almost half of the road is cut off.

05:09So our JKR and crew are alert all over the division

05:14to monitor any road damage.

05:20Then we will immediately repair it.

05:26For more UN videos visit www.un.org

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