Kelantan villagers hit by flood still waiting for aid

KUALA LUMPUR — One month after massive floods hit the east coast states of the peninsula and millions of ringgit spent towards relief and recovery efforts, some Orang Asli villages in Kelantan, mainly in the remote areas, remain unreachable.

Feeling neglected and overlooked, some have started to complain that prompt assistance and aid were not provided to them, especially from the Orang Asli Development Department (JAKOA), which is supposed to help them cope with the situation.

A recent visit to several remote locations occupied by the Temiar tribe revealed that many villages are still cut off from getting food supplies after the main route linking them to the outside world was damaged.

Many of the Orang Asli said they had to trek for kilometres through the jungle to get to the nearest relief collection centres or other villages for assistance. “Since the flooding started until today, JAKOA was nowhere to be seen. We have yet to receive any aid from them,” said Mr Awir Awie, 28, of Kampung Depak.

Most of the aid, it was learnt, came from non-governmental organisations (NGOs), volunteer groups, individuals and private companies.

“My family ran out of food and had to flee to the hills because our house was flooded,” said Mr Awir, who was met at one of the post-flood relief missions organised by a volunteer group in Gua Musang.

There are also villagers who had to endure a three-hour trek from their village to the nearest grocery shop in Kuala Betis to replenish food supplies. “We had to buy food even if the prices are expensive ... a bag of rice that used to be only RM18 (S$6.70) is now sold at RM30. A litre of petrol costs about RM4 here,” said 45-year-old Hak Oi Angah of Kampung Guling.

Mr Hak Oi said villagers, who usually lead independent and self-sustaining lives, have no choice but to buy some supplies as their crops had been destroyed during the floods. It was reported that in Kelantan, about 7,995 Orang Asli from 67 villages were affected by the recent floods.

Mr Hasnan Hassan, director-general of JAKOA, said the department allocated more than RM2 million for food assistance in 57 Orang Asli villages around Gua Musang from Dec 28 to Jan 18. A total of 1,364 village heads with registered households of 6,820 had received assistance so far.

For the remote areas, JAKOA said it had engaged the help of the Fire and Rescue Department, and Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency to deliver aid to outposts.

Jaringan Kampung Orang Asli Kelantan treasurer Jamali Ayau said despite JAKOA’s help, there were still many villages that had yet to receive any assistance from the authorities.

“Since the floods, JAKOA never came. Fortunately, after the floods, there are some NGOs able to reach us to provide assistance,” said Mr Uda, 50, of Kampung Ber.

Impoverished Kelantan was one of the worst-hit states in north-eastern Malaysia, which bore the brunt of the country’s worst floods in decades. At their height, the floods displaced more than 200,000 in Pahang, Kelantan, Perak, Terengganu and Johor. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER