KOTA KINABALU: The authorities are struggling to evacuate families from floodwaters in a remote Kinabatangan village – even though those homes were declared unsafe and unfit for living years ago.
Nine families from Kampung Kuamut are occupying old houses in Kampung Pengkalan Bukit Garam, a flood-prone area along Sabah’s longest river, the Kinabatangan.
The area, deep in the interior some six hours’ drive from here, has been declared a "zero-ground zone", meaning it is no longer suitable for human settlement because of high flood risk.
All the original residents of the village were relocated under a government resettlement programme to Taman Pelangi, with their old homes left vacant.
“But when the houses were empty, others moved in,” said Civil Defence Force officer Capt Ahmad Roslan Mohd Kamel.
“Some were relatives, others were new settlers from nearby areas like Kuamut.”
ALSO READ: Several homes inundated as flood hits Kinabatangan village
To date, Kinabatangan is the only district in Sabah still affected by floods, and as of 4pm Thursday (April 3), 100 people from 23 families have taken shelter at the official temporary relief centre at SK Bukit Garam, Pekan Bukit Garam.
However, the nine families occupying the abandoned homes near a dilapidated community hall have refused to evacuate despite worsening conditions.
According to Bernama, an evacuation order has been issued by the disaster operations control centre, allowing forced evacuations to be carried out if the villagers continue to resist.
All of them are citizens who now rent shoplots in front of the hall, said Ahmad Roslan, adding that they are not illegal settlers but simply moved into a place that had already been declared off-limits.
“They’re used to the floods. Some say they don’t want to leave because all their belongings are there.
"Others fear theft if they abandon the place, especially since there are multiple routes into the area," he said.
According to Ahmad Roslan, the floors of the old houses sit just 30cm above the road and floods hit as soon as the river rises.
While a few families have boats, many do not.
Electricity to the area has already been cut off, but residents are still unwilling to leave the comfort of what they’ve grown used to even if it means risking their safety.
Officials have had to spend days coaxing the group to relocate, although authorities technically have the power to enforce mandatory evacuation under disaster response procedures.
“We are still discussing next steps with the police and fire department,” said Ahmad Roslan.
Kinabatangan district officer Willey Lampaki officially declared the district a flood disaster area at 4.45pm on Wednesday (April 2), based on reports from ground agencies.
The SK Bukit Garam relief centre was activated at 6pm to facilitate evacuation and coordinate relief efforts as water levels breached the danger mark.
Ahmad Roslan explained that the current flooding is due to “air besar”, a rush of water from upstream areas like Kuamut and Inara, funnelling into the Kinabatangan River.
Even though it has not rained heavily in Pengkalan itself, water from upstream has overwhelmed the system.
“The river’s still more than one metre above danger level,” he said. “It may take five to six more days to go down.”
Health teams have been deployed to disinfect the flood-hit area and distribute medication to prevent diseases such as leptospirosis, especially since some buildings being occupied had long been abandoned.
“The hall is not suitable for living,” Ahmad Roslan added. “But they insist on staying. That’s the challenge.”
