DEC 7 — Every year during the north-east monsoon season in November, continuous heavy rains will bring floods to Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang. It has become a norm and only the severity of the disaster will be different. This year, the first wave of torrential rains have paralysed not only the three states, but other states like Johor and Penang are also flooded. Despite natural disasters are unpredictable, does that mean that we should just let the annual floods be an inextricable fate of east coast residents?

Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are severely affected, involving tens of thousands of victims. The situation in Kelantan is the worst as flood victims are forced to flee their homes in panic while facing electricity and water supply disruptions. Shops and petrol stations are packed with crowds buying food and filling fuel, just like a chaos with people scrambling to escape from a great disaster. The annual disaster is getting more and more severe and once it strikes, it paralyses the community and economy of the states. Is it a scene that should appear in a country wishing to become an advanced state by 2020?

There are many factors causing the floods. Excessive rainfall during the year-end rainy season has already been expected. If we still blame the excessive rainfall or God for causing the annual floods, it will only reflect the governance ability of government agencies, particularly the state governments. The worst flood in 65 years in Kuantan last year had caused enough sufferings to the people. This year, the situation has not been improved and indeed, it turned worse. The state government led by Pahang Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Adnan Yaakob should give the people an explanation.

After typhoon “Haiyan” hit the Philippines and Vietnam last month, didn't the National Security Council say that they have prepared to cope with the year-end rainy season disaster? Didn't they say that relief work has been well deployed while resources that could cater to up to 1.3 million flood evacuees have been set aside throughout the country? Then how could the disaster still go out of control, and evacuees have to fight for food while facing electricity and water disruptions?

We believe that the Fire and Rescue Department, Civil Defence Department, as well as police and military have played their roles in the relief operations to help the victims evacuate from danger areas and greatly reduced the changes of unfortunate events. However, in their long-term programmes, the authorities should build more flood control and drainage channels. With these flood control facilities, the impacts of the devastating floods can at least be reduced. If the state governments have a stronger awareness of disaster prevention and are able to have good prevention measures before the arrival of the disastrous rainy season, it will surely be much better than making great disaster relief efforts afterwards.

Many areas nationwide have always been ravaged by floods and suffered serious economic losses. The federal government has to allocate a huge sum of money for flood relief purposes. However, massive floods still return every year, causing doubts over the effectiveness of flood control programmes. Take Kuantan for instance, the federal government had allocated RM50 million for a flood control project but what had the money been used for? The flood situation in Kuantan showed that the state government's management efficiency needs to be strengthened. The first wave of torrential rains has already brought us a grave disaster and more rains are expected to come soon. All parties involved should stay alert and stop letting the people suffer. — mysinchew.com

* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malay Mail Online