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Flooding in Malaysia uproots thousands
Malaysia's worst floods in 37 years have displaced nearly 100,000 people amid food shortages, looting and criticism yesterday of the government's handling of the crisis.
- Reuters
- Published: 00:00 December 24, 2006
- Image Credit: AP
- Six people, all in the worst-hit state of Johor, have now died in the floods, which the government described as the worst since 1969.
Kota Tinggi, Malaysia: Malaysia's worst floods in 37 years have displaced nearly 100,000 people amid food shortages, looting and criticism yesterday of the government's handling of the crisis.
Heavy rain in neighbouring Indonesia exacerbated by deforestation also killed at least six people and drove tens of thousands from their homes.
Malaysian weathermen warned the floods, which hit the southern states, could spread to the central and northeastern parts of the country if the unusually heavy monsoon rains persisted. The rains over the Malaysian states of Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are expected to continue today, the weather bureau said in a report.
Six people, all in the worst-hit state of Johor, have now died in the floods, which the government described as the worst since 1969.
Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, en route to Australia for his holiday after an official visit to Venezuela, made a surprise detour to Johor yesterday to visit flood victims. "We want to ensure that everyone gets to return home safely," the national Bernama news agency quoted him as saying after visiting a shelter in Johor.
The floods, which followed this week's heaviest rainfall in a century, submerged buildings and cut off roads in Kota Tinggi and several other towns in Johor, which borders Singapore.
Newspapers reported looting in the towns of Kota Tinggi and Segamat. There were also cases of rescuers demanding money from flood victims before rescuing them, the Star newspaper said.
"I was desperate and did not know what to do," the Star quoted Abdul Rashid Maidin, one of several people whom it said paid the money, as saying.
The going rate was between 50 and 100 ringgit (Dh52 and Dh104), it said.
Flood victims also complained of lack of food, clothing, blankets and running water at many of the relief shelters. Opposition leaders criticised the government's handling of the crisis, saying relief operations were in complete disarray. "A full and independent inquiry into the monster floods in southern peninsula Malaysia and the horror stories of inhumanity, greed and incompetence is clearly warranted," parliamentary Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang said.
In Indonesia, authorities said at least five people were killed and 70,000 others driven from their homes by surging flash floods.
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