Year: 2022

JOHOR BAHRU, Dec 24 (Bernama) — The Johor government hopes that the Ministry of Health Malaysia (MOH) will pay attention to solving healthcare issues and helping improve the level of healthcare services in the state.

 

State Health and Unity Committee chairman Ling Tian Soon said that one of the major issues was the high rate of hospital bed utilisation at Sultanah Aminah Hospital (HSA) and Sultan Ismail Hospital (HSI).

 

As such, he said there was a need for the state to have another specialist hospital to overcome the overcrowding issue at the two hospitals.

 

 

 

Ling said that the state government had previously proposed that a new hospital be built in Kempas and he hoped that the matter would be included in the 12th Malaysia Plan (12MP).

 

“Johor also needs new polyclinics in densely populated areas such as Kulai and Iskandar Puteri, while dilapidated facilities such as the Bukit Pasir, Ayer Hitam and Mersing health clinics should be upgraded,” he said in a post on his Facebook page.

 

Yesterday, Ling had a meeting with Health Minister Dr Zaliha Mustafa in Putrajaya to discuss issues related to the healthcare system in Johor.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

 

BATANG KALI, 23 Dis (Bernama) — Redigging efforts have exceeded 70 per cent as the search and rescue (SAR) operation to locate the final victim of the Father’s Organic Farm campsite landslide continued for the eighth day today.

 

Selangor Fire and Rescue Department assistant director Hafisham Mohd Noor said the operations were focused on digging at sector C (riverside).

 

“The strength of the SAR team is 91 individuals, with the assistance of nine K9 units and seven excavators,” he told Bernama.

 

 

 

Today’s search for the last victim, believed to be a boy, started at 8 am.

 

The landslide that hit the campsite at 2.42 am last Friday has officially claimed 30 lives, with one more missing out of a reported 92 victims. The remaining 61 victims survived.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

 

BATANG KALI, Dec 23 (Bernama) — The eighth day Search and Rescue (SAR) operation at the Batang Kali landslide tragedy was suspended temporarily due to heavy rain at the site this afternoon.

 

Speaking to Bernama, Hulu Selangor police chief Supt Suffian Abdullah said the SAR operation which started today for one remaining victim of the tragic landslide had to be suspended at 5.30 pm as a precaution to ensure the safety of the rescue personnel involved.

 

However, he hinted that there was every possibility that the SAR operation will continue anytime today if the weather condition permits.

 

 

 

A visit by Bernama to the campsite (site of the landslide) at 5.55 pm today, saw SAR personnel taking shelter under a fire and rescue department camp, waiting for the rain to ease.

 

The last victim (yet to be found) of the tragic landslide is believed to be a boy.

 

Last Friday, at 2.42 am, a landslide occurred at the Father’s Organic Farm campsite where 92 campers were spending their holiday.

 

 

 

As of yesterday, the bodies of 30 victims who perished in the tragedy have been found, one is not accounted for, while 61 others were either rescued or escaped.

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

MERSING (Johor), Dec 23 (Bernama) — The inhabitants of two villages in the Mersing district have made all the preparations to face imminent floods, having learned from past experience.

 

A check by Bernama revealed that the residents of Kampung Jemari and Kampung Pengkalan Batu have stored their electrical items on high shelves in their homes and have readied boats for the ride to relief centres once the flood strikes.

 

The preparations have been all the more earnest in view of the warning by the authorities of continuous rain.

 

 

 

Sahrizan Timan, 30, said his family members have been accustomed to the annual floods since they were children and have learned to store away their valuable property to reduce any damage.

 

“When the floodwaters begin to rise, we will gather our valuables and ride in our father’s boat to the relief centre,” he told Bernama at his house in Kampung Jemari.

 

Junaidah Mohamad Noor, 38, of Kampung Pengkalan Batu, said her family was wary of the floods as their house was located close to the river.

 

 

 

“Based on the experience of floods thrice in the past, the residents always get ready for evacuation by the authorities. Most importantly, all important documents and items have been kept away safely,” said the mother of three.

 

The National Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre of the Department of Irrigation and Drainage has kept warning about floods if there is incessant rain.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

 

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 (Bernama) — Sabah is the latest state to be affected by floods, with 236 people evacuated to three temporary relief centres, joining four other states while Selangor and Pahang have fully recovered as of 4 pm today.

 

In SABAH, 13 people from five families were evacuated to the relief centre that was opened at Dewan Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (C) Chung Hwa, Kota Belud from 2 pm after floods hit Kampung Song-Song, Kampung Donggoi and Kampung Marajah in the district.

 

Meanwhile, 223 people from 52 families were moved to two relief centres in Pits since this morning as a precaution due to the high tide phenomenon.

 

 

 

In SARAWAK, as of 3 pm today, the State Disaster Management Committee (SMDC) reported that the number of flood victims rose to 305 compared to 139 this morning and that two more relief centres have been opened at the Ladong Community Hall in Sebuyau and Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Kampung Baru, Samarahan.

 

With the two new relief centres, each housing 53 and 64 evacuees, there are now six relief centres in the state, including Balai Raya Kampung Opar and Balai Raya Kampung Jugan in Bau as well as the Kampung Bedaun Hall in Santubong and Dewan Suarah Kota Samarahan, Samarahan.

 

In PERAK, the number of evacuees at two relief centres dropped to 51 people from 13 families.

 

 

 

While the relief centre at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Abd Rahman Talib in Hilir Perak housed 37 victims from seven families, the number of evacuees at SK Sungai Tiang Darat, Bagan Datuk dropped from 26 people from 12 families this morning to 14 people from six families.

 

Meanwhile, the number of evacuees in Segamat, JOHOR dropped to 34 people from 11 families following the closure of one relief centre, the Kampung Tasek Community Hall, at 1 pm.

 

In KELANTAN, 18,924 evacuees from 6,182 families have taken shelter at relief centres this evening, which is a reduction compared to 24,297 victims from 7,623 families this morning.

 

The SDMC Secretariat said all the evacuees were placed at 53 relief centres in the districts of Pasir Mas, Tanah Merah, Pasir Puteh, Kota Bharu, Bachok and Tumpat.

 

In TERENGGANU, the number of evacuees dropped from 25,895 this morning to 23,634 and all of them have been placed at 153 relief centres operating in all eight districts.

 

In SELANGOR, the two relief centres opened last night – at SK Merbau Sempak, Shah Alam and the Kuala Selangor Municipal Council (MPKS) Hall in Desa Coalfield, Kuala Selangor – were closed at 2 pm today.

 

In PAHANG, the last relief centre in SK Sungai Ular, Kuantan, which housed 23 evacuees from six families, was closed at 4 pm today.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA TERENGGANU, Dec 23 (Bernama) — Although the flood situation in Terengganu is improving, the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) is still on high alert and prepared to deal with the next wave of the disaster.

 

Deputy Minister of Local Government Development Akmal Nasrullah Mohd Nasir said that for the time being, the leave for all firefighters is still frozen as the northeast monsoon season has not ended.

 

“JBPM operations involve helping groups in dire need…that is why we prepared two helicopters, which are now at the Firefighters Academy in Wakaf Tapai, Marang, to be deployed for special rescue missions such as transporting patients and so on.

 

 

 

“For the community, even though you have been allowed to return home, please pay attention to preparedness measures because, based on past experience, the areas expected to be hit by floods are not the same. So, everyone must be ready,” he told reporters after a visit to flood-hit Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK) Pulau Rusa here today.

 

In the meantime, he said 1,310 JBPM officers and personnel, including those on loan from other states, have been involved in rescue operations during the major floods that hit Terengganu since Sunday (Dec 18).

 

Apart from the two helicopters, Akmal Nasrullah said 40 boats and 43 land assets, including 4WDs and lorries, were used in the operations, adding that they were adequate in the event of the next wave of flooding.

 

 

 

He further said that even though the post-flood operations have not yet started, JBPM personnel are actively carrying out clean-up work in the affected areas.

 

“For example, SK Pulau Rusa is blanketed in silt and mud after the floods, and if we don’t start cleaning now, the mud will harden and make the cleaning work difficult,” he said.

 

 

Source: BERNAMA News Agency