KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 23 — A total of RM422.4 million has been allocated through the National Disaster Relief Trust Fund (KWABBN) to face floods in the country since 2008 until the end of this year.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim said the assistance for flood victims’ management, included building new permanent homes for victims whose houses were damaged.

"To date, out of the total allocation, RM101.63 million had been utilised for floods in Kelantan, RM52.9 million in Terengganu and RM55.85 million in Pahang. In addition, RM113 million was used for the construction of 1,384 new permanent houses to flood victims nationwide,” he said during a question and answer session at the Dewan Rakyat sitting today.

Shahidan was replying to a question from Datuk Takiyuddin Hassan (PAS-Kota Baru) on the government’s preparedness and allocation for flood disasters.

"The government will also ensure that disaster response is coordinated effectively. To achieve this, the government is focusing on trainings and workshops involving relevant officers to operate the disaster control centre and the incident scene control centre,” he said.

The government also intensified disaster preparedness measures with a more holistic approach in terms of a more comprehensive disaster risk management, he added. — Bernama