Najib to visit Penang flood victims today

PUTRAJAYA: Concerned about the situation in Penang, where thousands have been evacuated, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak will visit the floodstricken state today.

He will be briefed on the situation at the Seberang Prai Tengah district office and is expected to visit Tanjung Putus in Permatang Pauh and the relief centre at SK Sungai Dua.

More than 10,000 people are reported to have been evacuated following floods that hit the north.

Najib had pledged that the Federal Government would help any state in times of disaster, no matter who administered it.

The armed forces are already on the ground, providing assistance to Penang flood victims and the mission is being coordinated by the National Disaster Management Agency.

Meanwhile, the Penang Federal Action Council is proposing a flood-mitigation plan for the short and long term, which would cost about RM1 billion.

Its chairman, Datuk Seri Zainal Abidin Osman, said the council had formulated the total solution in its meeting yesterday and would propose it to Najib during his visit to the state.

Zainal, who is also the special adviser to the prime minister on the Northern Corridor Economic Region, said the council would propose the plan to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng, as the allocation would be given only after the federal and state governments had approved the plan.

“The federal and state governments must work together to overcome the perpetual flood problem in the state.

The recurrence of flooding here is too frequent and the people are the ones who suffer.”