2,000 island villagers ‘without food for three days’

 

With water levels exceeding 10m in depth, residents have had to travel by boat in getting supplies. (Bernama pic)

TUMPAT: More than 2,000 residents in island villages here hope their welfare will be looked into after running out of food for almost three days following the third wave of floods that hit Kelantan.

The residents said they had lost contact with the “outside world” as fast river currents around the villages since Wednesday had left them cut off, with water levels exceeding 10m in depth.

Suliana Shafi-in, 40, a resident of Kampung Pulau Suri, in the Teluk Renjuna sub-district, said today was the second day that she had been without food supply but was grateful to her family including her neighbours who were willing to share their food.

“I want to go out to the nearby town to buy food but it is impossible since the river currents have been quite fast for the past two or three days and it is quite dangerous for us who only have this regular boat to navigate it,” said the single mother of four children.

A resident in the same village, Ramly Ibrahim, 62, said in order to continue surviving, 80 residents in the village helped each other by sharing food supplies such as rice, sugar, salt, milk and so on with their neighbours in need.

“Thank god, the water near our homes is starting to decrease but the river currents are quite fast at this time so they prevent us from going to town to buy basic necessities.

“While waiting for the water to recede, we agreed to share food supplies with neighbours who are short of rice, eggs, sugar, salt and others,” said the fisherman.

Another resident of Kampung Pulau Suri, Mustafa Mahmud, 62, said apart from the lack of food supply and basic necessities, the income of the majority of residents around Pulau Teluk Renjuna was affected since the start of the monsoon season.

“Furthermore, the flood situation this time makes it more difficult for most residents on the island who are fishermen and small traders to earn a living. They also do not know how long it will take before the situation will change for the better,” he said.

Apart from Kampung Pulau Suri, among the villages that were flooded due to the overflow of water from Sungai Kelantan were Kampung Haji Nik Mat and Kampung Lubuk Kawah, which are located less than 100m from the river.

Donations of 500 food baskets to each village on the islands have come from the Selangor Bandar Botani Community Rehabilitation Centre in collaboration with Pertubuhan Ayahanda Anakanda Malaysia (PAAK) and the National Anti-Drug Agency in Kota Bharu.

PAAK chairman Zainal Adnan Shukri said he was told that most of the residents there are fishermen and their income is quite affected following the monsoon season.

“In fact, we were also told that more than 2,000 residents around Pulau Teluk Renjuna have run out of food for almost three days,” said Zainal, who is coordinator of the relief mission. - FMT