THE Education Ministry (MOE) has identified 16 examination centres in Terengganu that are at risk of being hit by a fourth wave of floods.
Deputy education director-general (professionalism development sector) Shafruddin Ali Hussin said it involved 224 students who will be sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination in the districts of Hulu Terengganu, Setiu, Dungun and Besut.
As such, he said the Terengganu Education Department has made the necessary preparations, such as relocating students to hostels or nearby schools, to ensure that the examination can be held as scheduled, from January 31 to March 7, 2024.
“In Terengganu, we have identified 224 students who will sit for the SPM examination and may experience locality issues if the floods occur again.
“However, the state education department and district education offices have taken the necessary steps to ensure that the students can sit the examination as scheduled by housing them in school hostels or in locations close to the examination centres,” he said after the post-flood clean-up at SK Sungai Las, Permaisuri, today.
In the meantime, Shafruddin said the total loss incurred by schools affected by the floods in Terengganu is estimated at RM340,000, covering damages to furniture and equipment.
He said the MOE has been informed of the matter and allocations to carry out repair work will be channelled to the affected schools in the near future.
He added that, overall, 53 schools in eight districts in Terengganu were affected by the floods that hit the state on November 20.
In addition, Shafruddin said 79 schools have been used as relief centres to accommodate flood victims in the affected districts.
Brunt of disaster
Meanwhile, the state’s disaster management committee secretariat said that the last temporary evacuation centre at Dewan Serbaguna Taman Perumahan Wakaf Tengah in the Kuala Nerus district, housing six evacuees, was closed at 2pm today.
Earlier, the Department of Irrigation and Drainage had issued a flood warning expected to occur gradually in several low-lying areas near rivers, within a range of 5km in Terengganu, starting from 2am last Sunday until Tuesday (December 26).
However, heavy rain on December 23 forced the first evacuation centre to open earlier, at 9.30pm, at SK Pusat in Dungun, with 21 evacuees initially placed there.
Marang then became the second district to be hit by floods on the same day when 12 evacuees from three families had to seek shelter at the centre at Dewan Sivik Wakaf Tapai, which opened at 10pm.
The continuous heavy rain episodes saw one district after another in Terengganu starting to bear the brunt of the disaster, and Kuala Terengganu completed the list of eight affected districts on December 26.
The highest number of evacuees was also recorded on December 26, with 10,643 people from 2,913 families seeking refuge in 134 centres.
The flooding also surprised many when the Felda Rasau Kerteh cluster in Ketengah Jaya, Dungun, was hit by the disaster for the first time in 40 years, forcing 260 victims to be relocated.
After several days of observing an increase in the number of evacuees, the third wave of floods in Terengganu began to show signs of abating on December 27 when the number of evacuees recorded by the secretariat fell below 10,000 people.
On December 28, Besut became the first district to recover from the disaster as all centres in the district were closed, followed by Kuala Terengganu, Kemaman, Setiu, Hulu Terengganu, Marang, Dungun, and Kuala Nerus today. – Bernama, December 30, 2023
