Advertisement

After 2014 massive floods, Kelantan villagers build rafts fearing repeat

After losing their homes in massive floods that inundated the largely rural northeastern state of Kelantan last December, villagers in Kampung Limau Kasturi in Gua Musang are not taking any chances, building rafts to ride out the heavy rains that the northeast monsoon is expected to bring at the end of the year. They have begun collecting plastic drums, wood and other materials to be made into rafts that they could use if they were hit by massive floods again this year. "We have started collecting these items to build rafts," said villager Fatimah Mat, gesturing at the blue drums neatly stacked in the corner of the compound. Last year's floods, the worst the peninsula has seen, displaced more than 100,000 people in Kelantan at its height. Some 1,821 families in Kelantan had their homes washed away during the floods. Fatimah, 47, and several of her neighbours told The Malaysian Insider when met at their village located some 40km from Gua Musang, that they were caught unawares by the severity of last year's floods. “It has flooded before but those times water was only up to our knees or lower. The one in December was the first time that our village was totally submerged and our homes were washed away," Alias Mohamad, 64, said. "Our neighbours, too, have begun building rafts to transport belongings and people to higher ground should it happen again this year. If we depended on the police, the government or any other authority, we would die." It was villagers who helped out others, bringing one another to safety, to higher ground, when the water in the area rose, he added. "Our village is too deep inside. Outside help only reached us days later." Fatimah said the villagers had to take matters into their own hands as the state authority has yet to take any action to prepare for floods at the end of the year. "No one has told us what to do if it (flood) comes again and no one has done anything or come up with contingency plans to ensure that it doesn't happen again here," she added. Fatimah and her family, like the other families in the village, are now living in makeshift houses, after spending the first four months following the floods in tents. But unlike the others, Fatimah and her husband built their home themselves, using materials from their old house, after months of living in the tent. "We were tired of living in the tent. We lived in it until it was torn because of the rain and winds," she said. They have been promised new homes by the state and federal governments but remain in the dark as to when they could move. "They (state authorities) keep coming here and telling us the homes would be ready. The most recent time was before the fasting month. They told us that we'd be living in our new homes before Hari Raya itself. Both the state and federal governments are the same," said Fatimah, who has given up hope of the government’s promises coming true. "It has been almost a year, but what are we to do?" Alias now lives in a makeshift home built in April by the Malaysian Relief Agency with Akademi Sukarelawan Briged Bakti Malaysia. This structure is made of thin plywood and is situated just 50 metres from his old home where only the cement steps remain. "We did not expect to live in the tent and in this makeshift home for so long. They have kept making promises but there has been nothing so far," said Alias's wife Cik Som Cik Ali, 58. She said she is glad that they left the tent and moved into their makeshift home. "I am grateful for this house but when it rains, it is scary." Alias's mother Jahari Sulaiman lives in another makeshift home about a stone's throw away from her son. The 85-year-old widow shed tears as she recounted living in a tent for several months. "I have never seen this happening. My home was washed away and I have yet to see a new one that was promised to us," said Jahari, who lives alone. "All the same, I am grateful that these groups have built me a home, as a shelter. I cannot imagine what I would do if I were still in the tent." Kampung Limau Kasturi Federal Village Security and Development Committee chairman Mohamad Sokani Mat said he does not expect to see new homes being built anytime soon as there were disputes over the site. "The land they had initially found is sinking. So they are now looking for a new place," he said when met at his home in the village. "I think it will be more than a year from now before we get the new homes." Meanwhile, Paloh assemblyman Datuk Nozula Mat Diah said the state had promised to give some 113 families in Kampung Limau Kasturi new homes. "But until now, they have yet to show any effort that they are doing something. The federal government said they would do it but the state has not allowed them to," the Umno man said. "This is the problem. So even if Putrajaya wanted to (build new homes), it is not allowed to do so by the Kelantan state government." Nozula said that he suspected the delay in building new homes was because the state government has run out of funds to do so. "I told them (the state government) to allow the federal government to do it. Repeatedly. But they said that the state religious department was in charge of this. "We feel they have no money and yet, they insist on doing it themselves," he said. – October 5, 2015.