The Environment and Water Ministry must improve flood warning systems, says Nadma

Malaysia – According to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), the Environment and Water Ministry (Kasa) has been urged to strengthen the flood warning system by ensuring that the warning sound is louder and distinct from other sirens.

It said in a statement yesterday that this was one of the key conclusions reached at a special meeting of the Post-Northeast Monsoon Flood Disaster Management Task Force (MTL) headed by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Kasa’s move to monitor bunds that were not adequately maintained to alleviate the issue of floods, which happened regularly in numerous locations, was cited as one of the post-disaster actions.

“State and district Disaster Command Centres (PKOB) are urged to have conversations with the district Drainage and Irrigation Department (JPS) to perform assessment on impacted regions for states that have reached the post-disaster phase,” the statement read.

According to Nadma, the prime minister also ordered that the Bantuan Wang Ihsan (BWI) distribution procedure be streamlined, and that all menteris besar or chief ministers guarantee that every district office facilitates the distribution of the assistance through multiple channels.

The number of flood victims in relief centres (PPS) in Pahang, Johor, Negri Sembilan, and Melaka has decreased as of 5 p.m. yesterday, while the number in Terengganu, Sabah, and Selangor has remained steady.

Nadma also said that flood operations throughout the nation currently comprise 17,223 responder agencies and 3,251 combined assets from multiple agencies, while the Social Welfare Department (JKM) has delivered 544,064 food packs and other supplies to flood victims three times a day.

It said that state and district PKOBs must notify the national PKOB of any landslide occurrences affecting communities that need prompt evacuation and coordination by authorities.

“As of 10 a.m. on January 4, 2022, the Minerals and Geoscience Department (JMG) has reported 245 landslides across the country, an increase of two locations (Negri Sembilan 1, Selangor 1), while the Public Works Department (JKR) has reported 61 incidents of slope and road collapse detected across MTL 2021/2022,” it added.

Nadma further noted that as of 10 a.m. yesterday, 1,020 of the 1,048 damaged communication infrastructure units had been restored, with the other 28 currently undergoing restoration.