PASIR MAS, July 30 — Long affected by flooding, Kampung Tersang residents in Rantau Panjang, here have expressed their gratitude to the unity government for its swift action in approving the construction of river outlets as part of the Sungai Golok Integrated River Basin Development (PLSB) project.

Village Flood Mitigation Committee member Muhammad Ariffin Ismail, 61, said since February, there has been extensive work to lay 10 culverts in Pengkalan Teluk, one of the locations for the PLSB project.

Muhammad Ariffin said he met Natural Resources, Environment and Climate Change Minister Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad in December last year, who then followed up by meeting the villagers just a month later.

"In that meeting, we asked for river outlets to be built in Pengkalan Teluk, Kampung Serongga and Kampung Tersang to resolve the flooding and stagnant flood problem.

"The flood happens when there is an overflow of water from Sungai Lanchang through Sungai Golok. It worsens when water levels are high and overflows into surrounding villages,” he told Bernama here today.

Muhammad Ariffin said once the culverts are constructed in Pengkalan Teluk, the villagers hope the same could also be done swiftly for the residents of Kampung Serongga and Kampung Tersang before the onset of the monsoon season.

Another resident, Mohd Hirwan Rajiuon, 42, hopes the culverts would put a stop to years of flooding experienced by the villagers.

"Before the PLSB project, the floodings were bearable, up to knee level, but since the project kicked off we have had five-metre high floods in our area.

"We suffered a lot of losses and damage. We now hope the river outlets will have some impact,” he said.

"Prior to this, we had voiced out problems to the relevant parties, but there were no short of reasons given. We were even told to cough up our own money to build the culverts,” he said. — Bernama