According to SAPP Women chief Melanie Chia, as the problem has been in existing for more than 30 years, the government should have come up with solutions to resolve it, especially since the floods in Beaufort are getting worse.
There should be no more excuses for the government not to be able to address the perennial problem, she told a press conference yesterday.
"Every year there are reports of floods in Beaufort which are getting frequent and the situation is getting worse. The government needs to deal with it urgently and not just to blame it on global warming. If we all know the weather condition has changed drastically, the more we should get ourselves ready to face the problem," she said.
Melanie pointed out that the question of whether the problem was due to silts in the Padas River which thus caused the river to become shallow and causing water to overflow the riverbank whenever there was an extended heavy downpour was not the issue.
In fact the government should know what to do to better prevent and mitigate floods, instead of waiting for the situation to get worse then only to act, she said and lamented that by the time the worse happened, it would have caused tremendous damage (to the property) and inflicted suffering to the people.
"The problem has existed for 32 years. By right, the government should have put in place the necessary infrastructure to better prepare and deal with the situation," she said.
Melanie also urged the state government to check and better control logging activities, in Tenom.
The former Luyang assemblywoman said she had, during the state assembly sittings, raised the issue of alleged illegal logging in Tenom, as she wondered whether the logging activities in Tenom were partly to blame for the worsening flood situation in Beaufort.
She claimed that rampant and uncontrolled logging activities in Tenom which is situated at the upper Padas River, had destroyed the natural 'retention pond', thus causing rainwater to inundate Beaufort district which is located at the lower part of the river.
Meanwhile, SAPP Klias CLC chairman Thomas Chong, who was present at the occasion, blamed the worsening flood situation on rampant deforestation in the district over the years, to make way for oil palm plantations and other commercial developments.
A flood victim himself, Thomas lamented that this was also the first time in three decades that his residence at Taman Muhibah was affected by flood.
Besides this, he also expressed regret that the district's tidal gate which cost several millions of taxpayers' money to build, had failed to mitigate the flood situation, noting that it too was submerged in the flood water
By Nancy Lai
Versi BM
Kaedah penyelesaian jangka panjang
Usaha mendalamkan Sungai Padas perlu diambil untuk elak banjir berulang
“Sudah 33 tahun berlalu sejak kejadian banjir besar di daerah itu dan usaha mendalamkan dasar sungai perlu dilakukan agar segala hakisan tanah daripada tebing sungai serta hulu sungai dapat dibuang bagi melancarkan lagi pengaliran air sungai. Sungai yang cetek ditambah hujan yang turun lebih hampir tiga hari sejak 12 Februari lalu sudah pasti akan menyebabkan kejadian banjir besar berlaku. “
KOTA KINABALU - Satu usaha mendalamkan dasar dan meluruskan Sungai Padas perlu dilakukan bagi mengelakkan kejadian bencana banjir di daerah Beaufort daripada berulang.
Ketua Wanita SAPP Melanie Chia berkata, Beaufort adalah daerah yang sering kali terjejas banjir. Hujan lebat pada 13 Februari lalu menyebabkan kejadian banjir terburuk berlaku sejak tahun 1981.
"Sudah 33 tahun berlalu sejak kejadian banjir besar di daerah itu dan usaha mendalamkan dasar sungai perlu dilakukan agar segala hakisan tanah daripada tebing sungai serta hulu sungai dapat dibuang bagi melancarkan lagi pengaliran air sungai.
"Sungai yang cetek ditambah hujan yang turun lebih hampir tiga hari sejak 12 Februari lalu sudah pasti akan menyebabkankejadian banjir besar berlaku," katanya kepada pemberita dalam satu sidang media di sini kelmarin.
Beliau berkata, kemajuan pembangunan yang pesat berlaku di dearah itu juga menyebabkan hakisan tanah berlaku sekaligus mencetekkan dasar sungai di sana.
Menurutnya, satu pendekatan dari pihak berkuasa sepatutnya sudah diambil memandangkan daerah itu sering kali berhadapan risiko banjir, agar penduduk setempat mampu bertindak sendiri sekiranya berhadapan keadaan cemas.
Sementara itu, Pengerusi CLC SAPP Lumadan Jamain Sarudin berkata, sehingga kini masih terdapat lebih kurang 8,000 penduduk di kawasan Bangkalalak dan Padas Damit masih terperangkap dalam bencana banjir itu.
Katanya, kedua-dua kawasan itu melibatkan lebih kurang 20 buah kampung dan laluan ke kedua-dua kawasan itu tidak dapat ditembusi oleh sebarang kenderaan kecuali menggunakan bot.
"Kampung ini akan mengalami bencana banjir lebih panjang berbanding di pekan Beaufort yang sudah mula surut.
"Selain itu, ramai juga penduduk yang tidak berpindah ke pusat pemindahan sementara bagi menjaga harta benda mereka di sepanjang jalan utama daerah itu,"
Katanya, SAPP akan menghantarkan bantuan berbentuk 200 kotak air mineral serta bahan makanan kepada mereka yang tidak sempat mendapatkan bantuan daripada pihak kerajaan di pusat pemindahan.
Dalam pada itu, Melanie ingin mangsa banjir di Sabah khususnya di daerah Beaufort mendapat pembelaan yang sama rata dengan mangsa banjir di Semenanjung Malaysia daripada Kerajaan Persekutuan.
"Mangsa di daerah Beaufort sememangnyalayakmendapat bantuan yang lebih baik daripada Kerajaan Pusat tetapi apayang diminta adalah bantuan sama rata sahaja, “ katanya
Pix: MELANIE (lima kanan), Jamain (lima kiri) bersama pemimpin SAPP lain bergambar di hadapan barangan bantuan yang akan diedarkan.
18/02/2014 Utusan Borneo Post oleh Yap Siong Han
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