Stepping up to hold back the tide

Trashy affair: General workers engaged by the local authorities fishing out heaps of rubbish trapped at different tidal gates in Penang.

THE Penang government has urged the public to do their part in preventing floods by not throwing rubbish indiscriminately.

State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh said both the Penang Island City Council and Seberang Prai Municipal Council had cleared clogged drains at potential flood areas in view of the current high tide phenomenon.

“We appeal to the public to stop dumping rubbish anywhere they like.

“Let cleanliness be our culture, not only for disaster prevention,” he said after attending a Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) fundraising event at the Chai Leng Park multipurpose hall in Prai on Sunday.

Phee also urged the public to contact the local council if they found uncollected rubbish.

He said 25 volunteer firefighting squads, the MRCS and St John’s Ambulance were on standby until tomorrow to provide assistance in the event of any flood in the state due to the high tide phenomenon.

At another function, state Housing, Town and Country Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo said no number of flood alleviation plans would help if the people still continued to dump rubbish into rivers and drains.

It was previously reported that the tide would rise as high as 3m along the coastlines until tomorrow.

Malaysian Civil Defence Force Penang director Pang Ah Lek had said the high tide could affect 10 locations in the state, namely Teluk Bahang, Batu Ferringhi, Tanjung Bungah, Teluk Kumbar and Balik Pulau on the island, and Penaga, Pantai Bersih, Teluk Air Tawar, Pulau Aman and Sungai Udang on the mainland.

Another round of high tide is expected to happen between Nov 13 and Nov 17.