SEGAMAT: Floods in the district has kept the newly opened D’Esah Foodcourt closed for days, thus pushing away its initial aim to attract more customers during the Chinese New Year (CNY) holiday.
Speaking to Bernama, senior manager Hoo Yoon Wang, 38, said the flood was God’s plan and there was nothing much he could do.
“We just had the soft launch on Dec 25. Knowing CNY was just around the corner, we obviously set goals of luring more customers.
“However, continuous rain started last Saturday (Jan 21) and weather forecasts clearly indicated that this area has a risk of flooding since it is just 300 metres away from the Segamat River,” he said.
Hoo said expecting the worst, he then had meetings with the 20 vendors to ensure they buckled up and transported their business equipment to somewhere safer beforehand.
As predicted, the space was flooded on Jan 23, leaving some damage that Hoo described as minor yet forcing him to suspend their operation.
After assessing the affected space, Hoo believed the flood would set him back up to RM10,000.
“We’re trying to deal with the aftermath of the flooding and plan to resume our business as soon as possible,” he said.
Hoo and his team have been working around the clock to get the premises back in shape since Thursday, as the flooding eased.
Initially the worst district struck by flood, Segamat is now showing positive signs of decreasing water levels, with 123 people from 34 families left staying at six temporary relief centres. - Bernama
