Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi announces major mobilisation of personnel and assets, including Bailey bridges, as 188 relief centres open for 22,000 flood victims nationwide.
TAWAU: A total of 9,800 personnel from various government agencies and 7,000 operational assets have been mobilised nationwide for flood disaster preparedness.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the government has also prepared modular steel panel bridges, or Bailey bridges, to address situations where roads are cut off by floods.
“We have prepared seven Bailey bridges in Peninsular Malaysia, three for Sabah and four for Sarawak,” he told reporters after attending the Community Technical and Vocational Education and Training Exploration Programme at Tawau Community College.
“We are also in the process of mobilising and increasing the number of these bridges.”
Ahmad Zahid, who chairs the Central Disaster Management Committee, said the government has readied 9,058 temporary relief centres across the country capable of accommodating up to 2.189 million flood evacuees.
“We must always be on alert because Vietnam and the Philippines are experiencing extraordinarily heavy rainfall,” he said.
“As a result, in the northern part of the peninsula and on the east coast, areas that previously did not experience floods are now affected, including Bagan Datuk.”
He revealed that four relief centres have been opened in Bagan Datuk, where his own village is now inundated after decades without flooding.
Ahmad Zahid instructed all relevant agencies to enhance their preparedness as current figures show 188 relief centres have been activated nationwide to house about 22,000 flood victims.
Meanwhile, he reminded the 1.7 million voters in Sabah heading to the polls this Saturday to cast their votes early in the morning to avoid any possibility of rain.
A Public Works Department spokesperson reported two landslide incidents at Jalan Bukit Bendera Upper in Kota Kinabalu following continuous heavy rain.
