Sarawak govt to send water in six hours
KUCHING: In the preparation to face the drought which is expected to occur this month until May, Sarawak vowed to respond to complaints of water shortage within six hours.
Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas said the government had learned from the mistakes and shortcomings it went through last year and would make improvements in facing the El Nino episode this time.
“We have directed that water must reach the village lodging the complaint with the resident office in six hours,” said Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee chairman, at a media conference after its post-mortem meeting here yesterday.
Commenting further, Uggah said that the government had provided five helicopters, five drones, 170 lorries, 549 vans, 109 ambulances and 283 boats through collaborations with the local authorities.
“They are allowed to rent anything available to deliver water to isolated places and the interior if there are not enough vehicles available to ensure water is supplied to the community needing it,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, Uggah said RM303,000 had been requested from the District Office for distribution to 606 families for damages incurred from the floods which hit Sarawak from Jan 7 to March 7. Meanwhile, the Social Welfare Department had channelled RM17,914.36 to handle nine flood cases and RM6,900 for two landslides in the Limbang division.
Thirty-eight schools were also affected by floods in nine divisions, namely, Kuching, Samarahan, Betong, Sarikei, Sibu, Kapit, Bintulu, Miri and Limbang involving 3,671 pupils, 517 teachers and 239 nonteachers, he said.
He said four health clinics were also affected by floods in Kuching, Serian, Sibu and the Bintulu divisions.
“Five farmers were affected by floods in the Debak sub-district involving an area of 2.7 ha and losses of RM6,000,” he added.