KUALA LUMPUR – Being the Kelantan menteri besar has not spared Datuk Mohd Nassuruddin Daud from personally experiencing the year-end floods as his house in Kg Meranti, Pasir Mas, has been inundated since midnight.
“The water level rose sharply since midnight last night in the area around my house, which was eventually flooded,” he said in a post on his Facebook page today.
“Alhamdulillah, I was still able to carry out my official duties at the office this morning, leading the exco meeting in Kota Darul Naim (30 minutes away).”
This came amid the massive east coast floods as well as the collapsed embankment along Sg Golok yesterday, which was part of the Integrated River Basin Development Project in Kg Lanchang.
Sg Golok had reached 11.03m, its highest level in nine years. The river recorded a water level of 10.84m in 2014.
Previously, Nassuruddin said the state was hoping that the federal government would speed up its study to modify the spillway structure on the embankment of the river basin project to address the stagnant floodwater woes.
This is to prevent floods in the state, particularly in Rantau Panjang, from becoming worse.
As of 8am today, the number of flood victims in Kelantan increased to 17,466 people, involving 5,510 families, compared to 15,994 victims from 4,967 families last night.
According to the Kelantan disaster management committee secretariat, all the victims are being accommodated at 89 relief centres in eight districts – Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah, Jeli, Gua Musang, Kuala Krai, Machang, Pasir Puteh and Kota Bharu.
On the other hand, two mega projects to address flood issues in Kelantan have been categorised as “sick projects”.
The director of the Kelantan Development Office of the Implementation Coordination Unit of the Prime Minister’s Department, Jasri Kasim, said the first phases of the Sg Kelantan and Sg Golok integrated river basin development projects have been delayed.
He said the Sg Kelantan project was delayed by 193 days and the Sg Golok project was delayed by 177 days.
These, he said, were among seven sick projects identified in Kelantan under the 12th Malaysia Plan.
Jasri added that the projects were classified as sick due to several factors, including issues with contractors and land acquisition.
“The Sg Kelantan project is currently 92.07% complete, whereas the Sg Golok project stands at approximately 76%, falling short of the expected 98% and 85%, respectively.” – December 27, 2023