Sandbags to reinforce shorelines against floods

IPOH: Embankments along shorelines in Kedah and Selangor will be reinforced with sandbags as the high-tide phenomenon is expected to occur twice during the next two weeks.

National Disaster Management Agency director-general Datuk Zaitun Ab Samad said the water level from the tidal waves in these flood-prone areas was expected to reach 5m deep.

She said this was the short-term solution that the agency, several NGOs and the private sector were implementing.

“As for the long-term, we will be proposing for bunds to be built, and the planting of more mangrove trees, which are an important natural barrier against natural disasters like floods.

“However, it is extremely costly to plant such trees,” she told a press conference after addressing a forum on the preparedness of the agencies concerned to overcome disasters here yesterday.

Zaitun also advised villagers to move to the relief centres early.

She said since it had been forecast that the next high tide pheno­menon was expected to occur between Oct 14 and 19, affected villagers and residents should move to the designated relief centres on Oct 13.