HULU TERENGGANU, Nov 27 — Having to deal with the annual monsoon flood woes every year since 1980s, a resident in Kampung Bukit Tadok near here admitted that he might think that something is wrong somewhere if the “tradition” was broken.
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Nevertheless, Othman Muda, 72, shared the hope of approximately 200 other residents from 80 families in the village that they will not have to face such issues in the future, if not anytime sooner.
By now, he said almost every family in the village has a fibre boat which they would use to move to temporary relief centre during the monsoon season.
“If there were heavy rain for two consecutive days, our houses will definitely be inundated by waist-high floodwaters.
“So far, my wife and I are still capable of rowing the boat to seek shelter, but we do hope that we will not have to deal with the problem anymore.
“It’s very tiring. The flood may subside in a day or two, but the cleaning process will take more than a week,” he said.
The flood woes were believed to have been caused by the overflowing water from the river that is flanked by two hills, namely Bukit Tadok and Bukit Ning, located about 10km from the village.
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Bukit Tadok Village Community Management Council chairman Mohd Latik Harun said the two hills had somehow narrowed the waterway, causing the water to overflow to the village which is located in a lower-lying area compared to other villages.
One way to solve the problem is to deepen the river by four or five metres, he said.
Telemong state assemblyman Datuk Rozi Mamat also confirmed that the cause of the flood woes that had been plaguing the village was proven true by the research done with the cooperation from the Department of Irrigation and Drainage in 2015.
In fact, he said they had, in 2017, tried to reduce the impact of the floods by diverting the water flow of Telemong river to Cepoh river but the move was not very successful.
“So, the only way to solve the problem now is by digging or deepening the river.
“I do hope that the federal government would help provide the allocation as the river deepening work is quiet costly, let alone to cut through one of the hills,” he added. – BERNAMA