IPOH, Dec 17 — Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Harun suggested the government find the cause of the floods that afflict parts of the country during the annual monsoon season in order to develop preventive measures.

Rina said flooding in states such as Johor, Pahang, Kelantan and Terengganu has gone on for years.

"Every year we know that these places will flood and every year the government allocates millions to the victims.

"Why don’t we find the cause of the floods instead and prevent the problem once and for all?” she told reporters when met at the SME’s Product Empowerment Carnival in Tanjung Rambutan here.

Rina said this when asked to comment on government initiatives to solve the annual flooding.

She also said her ministry, via agencies like the South Kelantan Development Authority (Kesedar), the Southeast Johor Development Authority (Kejora) and the Central Terengganu Development Authority (Ketengah), has distributed food and donations to flood victims.

On Sunday, it was reported that more than 5,000 families from Johor, Melaka, Pahang, Kelantan, Terengganu, Sabah and Sarawak were forced to leave their homes due to floods caused by the heavy monsoon rain.

It was reported that a total of 12,468 people were also evacuated from their homes in several districts in Kelantan on December 4.

Earlier this month, the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) forecast that a second wave of floods will likely strike Kelantan between December 25 and 26.

Nadma’s deputy director of operations coordination, Rusli Ibrahim, said the scale of the floods could possibly be more severe than that of the first wave.

Rina also repeated Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail’s suggestion to learn from developed countries like Holland on handling floods in the country.