DEPUTY Prime Minister Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof has called on all districts throughout Sarawak to submit plans on how to deal with the long-term effects of floods and landslide disasters in the state.
"I have suggested that the disaster management committees at every district improve and upgrade their contingency plans.
"Every district needs to have a permanent venue that can be instantly converted into a multipurpose disaster relief operations centre and to shelter big number of victims as and when needed.
"These are measures needed for the long term in Sarawak," he said when visiting the Serian district flood relief shelter in southern Sarawak.
Fadillah said that since the number of people affected by floods and landslides are increasing in both urban and rural locations, their needs for swift relief aid must be looked into more comprehensively.
Yesterday, he said the Federal Government is preparing another massive allocation amounting to at least RM 1 billion to implement mammoth-scale flood mitigation projects in Kuching.
The RM 1 billion plus package will consist of constructing a huge canal through a part of Kuching city, plus a bridge across the canal and a barrage to control water-level.
"Another major flood mitigation project will have to be constructed in Kuching to help ease the flood woes now.
"The amount of money needed is massive, at least RM 1 billion needed to simultaneously construct a big water canal plus a bridge and a barrage.
"These three features must be constructed at the same time, so the money needed is huge and the Federal Government is looking at this fundings via the Ministry of Economy," he said. - February 3, 2025
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