Kampung Selamat residents on alert for anticipated mudslides

KUANTAN: Heavy rain that hit the Kuantan district for several days has caused concern among the residents of Kampung Selamat, in Pelabuhan, especially as their houses are located near to a bauxite stockpile area.

Every time it rained, the villagers will be on the alert on the possibility of floods due to the overflow of water mixed with red sediment from bauxite minerals.

For couple Tuan Raja Zalifah Tuan Nor, 41, and Syed Salleh@Syed Salim Syed Hussin, 45, they needed to be more cautious this monsoon season, especially as their house was affected by mudslide that rose to knee-level following heavy rain on Oct 29.

"I personally saw a strong overflow of muddy water gushing out from the cracks of the three-metre high rock barrier wall which separates our house and the bauxite storage area," Tuan Raja Zalifah told Bernama recently.

She said until now they felt traumatised every time it rained and their bitter experience prompted them to take precautionary measures by placing sandbags at their front door as a barricade against the recurrence flood and muddy bauxite water.
Earlier, Pahang State Secretary Datuk Seri Muhammad Safian Ismail said Bukit Goh, a former mining area, was at risk of facing mud floods with the occurrence of continuous heavy rain.

This meant that all former mining areas also faced the probability of a similar situation with the occurrence of high rainfall distribution.

Meanwhile, Tuan Raja Zalifah said her husband had also taken other measures such as building another door at the back of the kitchen to ensure the safety of her family as currently their house only had one front door for exit and entry.

She said, they also checked on their drains to ensure that it would not be clogged up, in efforts to lessen the risk of flooding.

However, she added, if heavy rain persisted, they would evacuate immediately, seeking shelter at their relatives' house.
In contrast, residents of Bukit Goh, Bukit Kuantan and Kampung Jeram located near to Taman Satelit, did not make any preparation for any anticipated floods.

A resident of Felda Bukit Goh, Ismail Ahmad, 80, said his family had not made any preparation because they were confident that their home would not be affected as their area had never experienced severe floods.

Sharing the same sentiment, Saudah Yaakub, 63, said despite the occurrence of continuous heavy rain and mudslides, the Felda residents would not be affected as the former mine was located in the oil palm plantation that was not inhabited.

Similarly, a local of Felda Bukit Kuantan, Piah Abdullah, 76, and Maryanis Marzuki, 31, who lived in Kampung Jeram located near to Taman Satelit, said they were not worried about the possibility of floods as they had never experienced extreme floods. — Bernama