The DAP has called for a special Parliamentary sitting to discuss specific steps that needs to be taken to rebuild the lives devastated by the recent East Coast floods.
Seremban MP Anthony Loke urged the government to hold the meet for leaders from flood affected constituencies to highlight damages incurred following the destruction of homes and infrastructure.
“The Parliamentary sitting would allow both the government and the opposition to put aside their differences and show Malaysians that we can be in solidarity with the victims just as was seens on 23 July 2014, when handling the MH 17 crisis” said Loke in a press conference held at the DAP headquarters in Kuala Lumpur today.
He also said that the government’s RM 500 million pledge for the victims of the catastrophe has not been divided accordingly for various uses.
Following news of the flood, Prime Minister Najib Razak had announced an additional Rm 500 million worth of aid for flood stricken areas in the East Coast.
“We do not know how the money will be divided. The announcement of millions of Ringgit of aid has no meaning if the money has not been channelled to the victims.”
Loke, who led the DAP relief charge for flood victims said that the RM 500 million dollar aid declared by the government was “surely not enough”, seeing that the infrastructure and homes have to be rebuilt.
“We are not asking for a Parliamentary meeting immediately; we have to focus on expediting water and food to the victims in the next two weeks before this meeting.”
He proposed that the meeting be held in January after a few weeks of carrying out relief efforts.
“At the parliament level, we must find ways to help the people rebuild their lives.”
“When the water level recedes, they (victims) can return home; but when they do return, they would find that their homes have been destroyed. How do you expect them to live on?”
“Because their lives as they know it has been destroyed,” he said, emphasising the need for a meeting where parliamentary leaders could find solutions for the otherwise stranded flood victims.
Anthony Loke said that there has not been any flood damage estimates.
“I dont think the PM (Prime Minister) has a clue also,” he said.
Loke also urged Tenaga Nasional Berhad to inform when electricity will be restored to Kelantan, who have faced power and communication outages for a week due to floods.
He said that without electricity, many in the area were forced to drink rain water to survive.
DAP relief effort halted by authorities
Rasah MP Teo Kok Seong who was also present at the press conference also shared that the trailer carrying goods for the flood victims was stopped by traffic police.
According to him, the police asked them if they had declared the goods carried in the truck.
These good were brought into Kelantan from various DAP collection centres which includes water, food and other necessities donated by the rakyat for those affected by the floods.
” I feel like this is going overboard, all agencies and authorities have to facilitate relief efforts for the victims and not hamper it,” said Teo.
DAP also screened a video montage at the press conference of the relief effort by the party, bringing goods on trailer convoys that did not bear the party’s rocket logo or flag.
“Our convoy’s used the Malaysian flag and not the party flag,” said Anthony Loke.
He said that two containers were dispatched to the Gua Musang and Kuala Krai respectively, which were the areas severely affected by the flood. Once there, the items were organized and segregated by the PAS Gua Musang and Kuala Krai Parliament service centre.
According to Loke, the DAP would be organizing two more missions to Kuala Krai on 31 December and 1 January with items and necessities from collection centres in Selangor.
Meanwhile, he also announced that the DAP flood relief fund “Tabung Bencana Banjir” now has collected RM 220 324. This is the official amount collected untill 12 pm today, said Anthony Loke.
The fund was launched to channel monetary donations from the rakyat for the East Coast flood victims.
The collection centres are not garbage dumps
Aside from thanking the people for the goods dropped of at various DAP centres, Balakong rep Ng Tien Chee said that some people were treating these facilities like garbage dumps.
“We found damaged clothes and even torn undergarments in the bags when repacking goods,” he said.
He asked those who donate not to give items that were useless to the victims.
Amongst the goods received at Selangor collection centres were biscuits, water, and instant noodles. The centres in Selangor still accepting goods and necessities include DAP Selangor headquarters, Dewan Orang Ramai Kampung Baru Balakong, Pusat Khidmat Kinrara, and Pusat Khidmat Ahli Parlimen Klang. -The Rocket
