Kelantan and Terengganu residents preparing for floods

Essential transportation: Ibrahim ismail, 74, (right) with his daughter Azrina, 43, and granddaughter Sofea Azman, four, take a sampan to get around their village in Terengganu. — Bernama

KUALA LUMPUR: Residents in Kelantan and Terengganu are making preparations for floods as heavy rains continued to fall.

In Kelantan, more than 20 General Operations Force (GOF) personnel from the 8th Battalion (PGA8) were evacuated after five border control posts in Pasir Mas were flooded between 0.2m and 0.5m. PGA8 commanding officer Supt Muhammad Shamsuddin said the affected border posts were Pos Saripah, Salleh Berek, Mek Gombak, Pulau and Wakaf Zink.

The affected personnel, who had been assigned to guard the borders under Op Benteng, had been moved to the Kuala Jambu and Jeram Perdah Tactical Company (Komtak).

“This was done for the sake of the personnel’s safety as well as to protect government assets.

“Nevertheless, patrols on 4WD-vehicles have been launched to ensure the continued presence of GOF there, ” he said.

In Rantau Panjang, several low-lying areas such as Kampung Kusar, Kampung Lanchang, Kampung Bongor and Kampung Terusan were flooded with waters reaching 0.4m as levels at Sungai Golok hit 9.02m, slightly above the 9m danger level after heavy rain.

Rantau Panjang Fire and Rescue station chief Imran Ismail said floods are likely to occur if the water level in Sungai Golok reaches 10m.

In Terengganu, over 1,690 people were moved to relief centres as floods in the state worsened.

Evacuees were housed at 13 relief centres in Kemaman, Dungun, Kuala Nerus, Kuala Terengganu and Setiu.

State Disaster Management Committee Secretariat head Lt Col (PA) Che Adam A Rahman told Bernama the most affected district was Kemaman, where five new relief centres were opened.

In Ipoh, the Perak government set aside RM2.95mil in flood relief aid that will be distributed to service centres in the 59 state seats, including those held by the Opposition. Mentri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Faizal Azumu said the state government was aware of the troubles faced by those impacted by floods, the conditional movement control order (MCO) and the enhanced MCO in several areas.

“The state government will channel RM50,000 to the service centres in the state, ” he said.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) issued a yellow level weather alert for several states such as Sabah, Kelantan and Terengganu.

MetMalaysia director-general Jailan Simon said the yellow alert would affect Kudat, the west coast and interiors of Sabah and the whole of Labuan, where heavy rains are expected until Monday.“Several districts in Kelantan such as Tumpat, Pasir Mas, Kota Bharu, Jeli, Tanah Merah, Bachok, Machang, Pasir Puteh and Kuala Krai, as well as Besut, Setiu, Kuala Nerus and Kuala Terengganu in Terengganu will also see heavy rain until then, ” he said.