RINGLET, June 14 — Kampung Baru Ringlet residents are totally unprepared for the next mudflow that they feel will occur when wet weather hits the Cameron Highlands at the end of the year.

For them, it is not a question of whether the village will be hit but what happens when this occurs.

Many are upset with the authorities for failing to act in the aftermath of the Nov 5 mudflow last year with little done to alleviate residents’ problems.

Seven months later, many are disgruntled with what they claim are half-hearted efforts to prevent a recurrence of last year’s catastrophe.

Some like Wong Kok Kong, 60, have resorted to building barricades using sandbags to keep floodwaters out in the event of another catastrophe but they know in their heart of hearts that the temporary measure will not be able to protect them from the fury of the river.

“Every time it rains, my neighbours and I watch Sungai Ringlet, waiting in fear for the next big one. We don’t know when it will come, but we know there is almost nothing we can do.

“Until someone helps us, all we can do is pray that no more floods will come. And if disaster strikes again, we can only run,” he said.

The Nov 5 incident is still fresh for Wong who woke up that morning to see a brown torrent of destruction cascading into his home.

Five people died — including a 13-year old boy — with hundreds of residents displaced.

Wong said little had been done to improve the situation in his area that is low-lying and most vulnerable to a mudflow.

In a recent interview, he recounted the water bursting over the walls of the waterway like a brown tsunami.

“There was no time to save anything. I climbed up a 10-foot wall and ran up a steep hill behind my house to escape the rising waters.

“The waters reached five feet in no time. Everything was just turned upside down and I lost thousands in damage to my property,” he said.

Similarly, Ong Poh Nan, 50, went through a harrowing time trying to save his 86-year-old mother.

He had to hold her above the floodwaters as her leg had been amputated.

“I spent over 30 minutes holding her in my arms, all the while praying that the water would recede. When the water level went down, we made our way to the entrance of the house and were rescued by other residents.

“Life has gone on, but we know that the danger is still there because little has changed since last year,” he said.

Other residents in the village are aware that the nightmares of that grim day could be just another heavy rainfall away.

A. Ganesan is at a loss over why the authorities have denied those living downstream the protection of a wall to keep hold back floodwaters.

“I don’t understand the logic. We are at more risk than the people who live higher up, but the authorities built a wall for them and not for us,” said the villager who has also built a sandbag wall outside his house.

Ganesan said residents would gladly move away if they could, but had nowhere to go.

“If there was a place for us to move, we would definitely leave. But I moved to a government house here after my house was hit by the Bertam Valley floods of 2013. Now, I have nowhere else to go.

“We were told there would be alternative places to stay after last year’s floods, but nothing has happened so far,” he said.

On Nov 16 last year, Cameron Highlands MP Datuk Seri G. Palanivel said he was planning to set up a 1Malaysia People’s Housing Project (PR1MA) for residents staying on the river bank and river reserve in the affected area.

The authorities also announced that a one-stop centre for enforcement activities against illegal farming would be set up in the highlands.

However, most residents have not heard of such a centre being set up. Attempts to contact district officer Datuk A. Rahman Hamzah for clarification proved futile.

Tanah Rata assemblyman Leong Ngah Ngah said he was aware of the announcement but did not know if such a centre had been set up.

He said he had proposed during the Pahang state assembly sitting last year that houses be built for residents but no action had been taken.