IT may have been almost two years ago when the Nov 4 and 5 floods in 2017 did extensive damage to Penang, but the efforts of over 2,700 workers from Seberang Perai City Council (MBSP), or formerly called Seberang Perai Municipal Council (MPSP), and thousands of volunteers are not forgotten by the council.
MBSP held an appreciation programme to hand certificates plus plaques made from the upcycle materials to representatives of all agencies involved at the MBSP building in Bandar Perda, Bukit Mertajam, today.
“We did realise at that time that without the support of the volunteers from many agencies, we would not have been unable to carry out the post-disaster cleaning process because it involved many areas on the large scale. But we made it together because of you,” Rozali said in his speech at the appreciation programme.
Rozali expressed his gratitude to the 20 government agencies, 27 private agencies, non-government organisations (NGO’s) and seven government-linked companies (GLC) for their incredible work and efforts.
“We are grateful for all the assistance provided in terms of the heavy vehicles, equipment and workforce by all of these agencies,” he added.
He said while the whole Penang was affected, the worst affected areas were Seberang Perai Tengah and Seberang Perai Utara.
“A total of 117 MBSP vehicles and another 95 vehicles from different agencies were used for the cleaning work.
“Among the vehicles used were a tipper ton lorry, a crane grabber, a backhoe, an excavator, a shovel, a water tanker and many others.
According to Rozali, 100% cleanup work was completed after 16 days and this would not be possible without the involvement of other agencies.
“The massive flood disaster that hit Seberang Perai damaged 3,256 houses and 162 vehicles, forced the evacuation of 9,639 victims and saw about 1,194 fallen trees in a total loss of RM11.3 million,” he added.
He said because of the disaster, MBPP established the Crisis Management Department along with the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) to cope with any such situation.
“This comes with three types of management plans under Seberang Perai Disaster Management Plan which are risk management plan, crisis management plan and the recovery management plan,” he said.
Rozali added that he still could not forget those moments when people from different backgrounds, regardless of race, religion and political affiliation, were helping one another cope with the disaster.
Story by Riadz Akmal
Pix by Noor Siti Nabilah Noorazis