KOTA KINABALU : Tue/Feb 2,2010
The government has been urged to set up a proper settlement area for flood victims in the Sukau area.
Sukau assemblyman Saddi Abdu Rahman said action must be taken to ensure flood victims would not have to suffer more losses in future due to destroyed property coused by floods.
He said the setting up of a new settlement must be prioritized becaused the people in Sukau are always affected by floods every year."The destruction ofvillagers"properties every time the flood comes costs them a large sum of money to repair and replace.
"so the goverment must find a long-term solution bysetting up or relocating the villagers to higher ground toavoid cousing more damage to the people of Sukau in future"he said at a press conference which was held after the single album launcing of Sabhi Saddi,who is Saddi's son at Shenanigan's Hyatt Regency Kinabalu,here,on Sunday.
He said the government must realize the importance of relocatng the flood victim(who were living near the shores in and araound Sukau)to higher ground so that they (the villagers)could start usingplantation as their source of income.
According to Saddi,this isbecause most of the villagers in Sukau are traditional fishermen,so if careful planning is not done before they are relocated,they would lose their source of income.
"If it is possible,they should be givenland to start plantation as their source of income,much like during the Berjaya days when flood victims were relocated to higher ground and given land to utilize and generate income.
"This is not a simple case of giving the people land to build a house,but to give them land to develop and generate income." Saddi said.He added that it would be wise to set up a new settlement or relocate the villagers in view of the frequent occurrence of flash floods in the area.
"Every year,hundreds of houses are destroyed,which involves losses that run up to millions.
"Therefore,the government should give their attention and to weigh the possibilities,"he said.