All for one, one for all: Villagers use private boats to help flood victims

 

Teamwork is what it is all about for the residents of Kampung Pengkalan Ajal in Kuala Berang as they help each other out in transferring flood victims to temporary relief centres using their private boats.

Che Wan Ruzilah Che Wan Musa, 63, said 10 residents, including herself, out of the 200 families in the village own boats and none would ever hesitate to help ferry other flood victims to the relief centres.

Having only recently recovered from a stroke she suffered about six years ago, she decided to buy the boat, measuring over three metres long, after pondering over the fate of the village folks who are hit by flood problems almost every year.

"Before buying this boat, I already had a smaller one. It wasn't so stable when steering through torrential current. So, after talking it over with my son, we decided to buy this (bigger) boat for safety,” she told Bernama today.

Although they are quite used to the floods now, Che Wan Ruzilah said the village folks continue to prioritise safety as their village is one of the worst hit compared to other villages in the district.

"Sometimes, we have to wait a long time for the rescue team to arrive and the floodwaters can rise very swiftly. That's why we decided to take our boats out to ferry the other residents to either the mosque or the school here.

"The villagers are also very considerate and pool their finances together to buy fuel. A boat like mine needs about RM60 for a full tank (of fuel),” she said, adding that she has faith in the village youths to handle the machine.

Kampung Pengkalan Ajal is one of three villages in the Hulu Terengganu district which were hit by floods, with a total of 146 victims from 61 families still placed in relief centres as of 2pm today, according to the Terengganu State Disaster Management Committee data.

The data also stated that the number of evacuees from the second wave of floods involving two districts, including Setiu, was also decreasing, with only 330 victims compared to 511 at 10am.

Meanwhile, a Bernama survey of the village found that floodwaters were beginning to subside and several villagers from the relief centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Kua had returned home.

The first wave of floods that hit Terengganu began on Nov 20 and lasted for 10 days, affecting over 4,700 people from nearly 1,200 families in seven districts in the state in stages, except Hulu Terengganu, following the Northeast Monsoon.

- Bernama