PUTRAJAYA, Jan 15 — The number of people displaced by the recent floods that ravaged the east coast could top half a million, the National Security Council (NSC) has said.
“At the height of the floods on December 26th, there were 202,000 victims. That is unprecedented,” Thajudeen told Malay Mail Online in an exclusive interview at his office here recently.
The number of people registered at relief centres were 173,643 in Kelantan, Pahang (79,515), Terengganu (62,909), Perak (12,040), Sabah (2,290), Johor (1,762), Negri Sembilan (331), Perlis (268), Selangor (259), Sarawak (58) and Kedah (13), according to Thajudeen.
The NSC official also said there was no need to declare an emergency over the floods as the military, police, and Fire and Rescue Department, among other government agencies, had poured in full resources in managing the disaster.
“Behind us, we have the private sector. Should we need, we’ll ask them to come forward. They’re all very forthcoming. Then what’s the necessity to call for an emergency?” said Thajudeen.
He pointed out, that private corporations like Petronas had offered helicopters in flood relief efforts, while airlines AirAsia, Malaysia Airlines and Malindo Air had also helped out.
DAP parliamentary leader Lim Kit Siang urged Putrajaya earlier this month to declare a state of emergency for the affected states in one of the worst floods to hit Malaysia in decades.
Thajudeen said there were no problems in co-ordinating flood relief efforts, pointing out that the NSC had met non-governmental organisations earlier on to discuss how to distribute aid evenly across the affected areas and once again Tuesday to talk about clean-up efforts.
The NSC official also said a post-mortem would be conducted upon the completion of the post-flood recovery, adding that the last time NSC’s standard operating procedures were reviewed was in January 2014.
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