Setelu bridge reopens after water subsides
GUA MUSANG: The Setelu bridge across Sungai Nenggiri which was closed to the public on Sunday has reopened.
The bridge which connects Gua Musang to Jeli was submerged following heavy torrential rain.
Sungai Nenggiri burst its banks at 5pm.
District police chief Supt Rajab Ahad Ismail said the half-hour downpour also caused a pile of debris to be left on the bridge.
Villager Norizan Suhairi, 35, said it was quite normal for the bridge to be submerged during the monsoon season.
“The river will overflow quickly, with water streaming from the highlands,” he said, adding that the people in eight villages depended on the bridge to get to Jeli district on a daily basis.
Villagers were seen cleaning the bridge of debris after it opened yesterday morning.
The temporary Setelu bridge was built early last year after a 100m-long concrete bridge collapsed in the massive 2014 floods when logs smashed into it.
Meanwhile, the Crisis Relief Squad of MCA (CRSM) said it was getting ready to mobilise hundreds of volunteers to face any situation during the monsoon season.
CRSM national chief Datuk Lua Choon Hann said relief committees had been formed in the various flood-prone districts, adding that they were monitoring the situation.
“Each relief team will have about 20 members. We have bought an insurance policy with worldwide coverage for every relief worker so that they can be deployed immediately,” said Lua, who is Kelantan MCA liaison committee secretary.
Gua Musang MCA chairman Chee Sien Chen said Sungai Nenggiri usually overflowed at year end.
“The concrete bridge has yet to be rebuilt although it has been two years since it got washed away. I am very disappointed,” he said.
Chee criticised the Kelantan government for failing to keep logging in check, which he believed could be the cause of the perennial flooding problem at Gua Musang.
“It is endangering the lives of people here,” he said.