Salleh: Floods have brought state and federal governments together

KUALA LUMPUR: The flash floods that hit the northern areas of the peninsula, especially in Penang, have united and brought the federal and state governments together, said Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak (pic).

The Communications and Multimedia Minister said both sides have put their political differences aside to help the victims in facing the calamity regarded as the worst flash floods in history.

He said the floods had also witnessed very close cooperation forged between the federal and state governments in solving the problems of the affected residents.

“This is a very interesting scenario. Mature politics is being practised. Deep down in my heart, I say: This is Malaysia. Political differences could not hamper joint efforts to solve the people's problems. PM Najib is a gentlemen,” he said in his blog post Tuesday.

Salleh said he was also fascinated by the statement made by Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng who said that he had contacted Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi early Sunday (Nov 5) to seek assistance and his call was answered by the Deputy Prime Minister.

“And they met the following morning and worked together to solve the problems faced by the people,” Salleh said.

He said the flash floods had so far caused almost 7,000 people in Penang and another 3,000 in Kedah to be evacuated to relief centres.

“Today, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and his wife, Datin Seri Rosmah Mansor, went to Penang and they were welcomed by Lim and were given a briefing on the flood situation by the state government.

“I could see that they were on friendly terms when discussing possible solutions to the people's problems,” he added.

The number of flood evacuees housed at relief centres in Penang had risen to 7,294 on Tuesday afternoon from 6,080 in the morning.

In Kedah, the number of evacuees in four flood-hit districts had dropped to 442 as of 4pm from 982 recorded at 9am. - Bernama