Putrajaya, Oct 30 – The relocation of residents staying on reserve land along Sungai Bertam to enable the river to be widen and deepen may take up to five months, said Natural Resources and Environment Minister Datuk Seri G Palanivel.
He said the main problem now was to find a permanent and safe site to relocate Kampung Baru Bertam Valley residents who were affected by mud floods when Sungai Bertam burst its bank on Oct 23.
“A suitable site had yet to be identified. I will ask the land office to look for a new site immediately, may be (they can get it) within the next few months,” he told reporters here Wednesday.
Four people were killed and one injured while about 80 houses and 100 cars were damaged in the mud floods when Sungai Bertam overflowed after water was released from the 50-year-old Sultan Abu Bakar Dam at Ringlet.
Forty million ringgit will be set aside in the 2014 Budget presented by the prime minister recently to widen and deepen Sungai Bertam following the flooding.
Palanivel, who is also Member of Parliament for Cameron Highlands, said the relocation was hindered as a handful of residents refused to budge.
“We’ll give them new plots of land so that they can resettle to enable us to clear both sides of the river,” he said.
He said the Department of Irrigation and Drainage (DID), which was allocated RM100,000 to clean up the disaster area, faced a daunting task to carry out its task as some houses were built right on the river bank.
On another note, Palanivel expressed his disappointment as none of the government departments and agencies notified him about the flooding.
“Even though I am Cameron Highlands MP, I did not get any news about it until the next morning when I’d got a text message and rushed to the Bertam Valley,” he added.
– Bernama
