NSC denies saying ‘complete collapse’ in flood disaster response

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 31 — A National Security Council (NSC) official said today he was misquoted by a newspaper and denied that the federal agency had suffered a “complete collapse” in managing the disastrous floods in the east coast of peninsular Malaysia.

NSC secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab clarified it was the Kelantan district office that collapsed as the government staff became flood victims themselves, but noted that the district offices in neighbouring Pahang and Terengganu could still function as those states were not as badly hit.

“It’s not the NSC that collapsed; it’s the district office from Kelantan,” Thajudeen told Malay Mail Online after a joint press conference by NSC chairman and Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin.

Local daily The Star reported Thajudeen yesterday as saying that NSC’s disaster management suffered a “complete collapse” at the district level in the east coast.

Muhyiddin also denied today that the NSC could not function during one of the worst floods the country has suffered in decades, which saw almost 250,000 people evacuated from their homes at one point.

“Total collapse is not true,” he told reporters.

He acknowledged that the magnitude of the floods was greater than expected, but stressed that the NSC was still able to deliver most of the food items and save property and lives.

Muhyiddin said some preventive measures could be taken in future, such as sending things like electric generators and food early to areas prone to flooding and added that the government will examine its mechanism later.

The deputy prime minister added that an estimate of the damage caused by the floods can only be made once information is gathered from all agencies.

Muhyiddin, who is also Umno deputy president, dismissed a suggestion by Datuk Dr Hussamuddin Yaacub, owner of Malay-language paper Sinar Harian, for Kelantan PAS to form a unity government with Umno to rebuild the state.

“At this stage, the federal and state governments must work together, not just in Kelantan,” he said.

“This cuts across politics,” the deputy prime minister added.

Kelantan was the first state to be hit by what has been dubbed as “Malaysia’s tsunami” due to the widespread flooding of the coastal states, followed by Terengganu, Pahang, and later, Perak and Johor.

Although floodwaters are gradually receding in Kuala Krai and Kota Baru, weather forecasters have warned that the worst is not yet over in Kelantan, Pahang and Terengganu.