BEAUFORT – More than 4,000 heads of families from 36 villages in the Lumadan state constituency have received food aid, as the area has been affected by flooding since Wednesday.
Lumadan state assemblyman Ruslan Muharam said the assistance was distributed to the residents in stages by Community Development Leadership Unit.
“We took our own initiative to distribute the aid to ease the burden of the residents who are in dire need.
“We did not expect that several other villages are also flooded as the water from Sungai Padas overflowed into those areas,” he told Bernama.
However he said, no villagers were evacuated to relief centres as all the victims moved to their relatives’ homes.
He said for the first time the floods in the area affected his 1.62ha catfish pond, and the loss was estimated at RM8,000.
Ruslan also proposed for the roads in the flooded areas be upgraded by increasing the height to facilitate aid distributions and allow villagers to travel to Beaufort to get food supplies.
“It is a long-term planning because the roads have been upgraded but frequent floods brought soil and sand, causing it to settle on the roads,” he said. — Bernama, January 8, 2021
