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Miserable Ramadan awaits Kelantan flood victims living in tents

KOTA BHARU (Malaysia) — Five months after massive floods laid waste to the largely rural north-eastern state of Kelantan, hundreds of victims in this mostly Muslim state are still living in tents as the fasting month of Ramadan draws near next month.

Children doing their homework outdoors in Bandar Utama, Gua Musang, Kelantan. Their families are victims of the December flooding and are supposed to be living temporarily in tents. Photo: The Malaysian Insider

Children doing their homework outdoors in Bandar Utama, Gua Musang, Kelantan. Their families are victims of the December flooding and are supposed to be living temporarily in tents. Photo: The Malaysian Insider

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KOTA BHARU (Malaysia) — Five months after massive floods laid waste to the largely rural north-eastern state of Kelantan, hundreds of victims in this mostly Muslim state are still living in tents as the fasting month of Ramadan draws near next month.

In Bandar Utama Gua Musang alone, 59 families are still living in temporary shelters prepared by the National Security Council, and have no inkling how much longer they would have to endure such conditions. The heat is unbearable in the afternoons and rain turns everything soggy.

In Dabong, 23 families are also living in temporary shelters. Many more are housed in tents in the three worst flood-hit districts of Gua Musang, Kuala Krai and Machang.

“Our homes look like graveyards,” said Mr Mohd Johari Mohd Abu, 39, adding that he was fed-up with broken promises made by the state and federal governments.

His family were among 1,821 in Kelantan whose homes were washed away during the floods which hit the state in December.

The floods last year were the worst the peninsula had seen, displacing more than 100,000 people in Kelantan at its height.

Some even described the rising waters as a “tsunami”, which swept away homes, leaving thick layers of mud over whatever remained and also damaged the railway line that plays an important part in transporting workers, traders and schoolchildren.

In the first three months of living in the tents in Bandar Utama Gua Musang, meals were prepared by the Malaysian Civil Defence Department three times a day for the flood victims, even though canned sardines were served most of the time.

Since early this month, however, the department no longer prepared food and the displaced were left on their own. Initially, they were not allowed to cook, based on safety concerns that cooking in tents would be a fire hazard.

Now trying to rebuild their lives, flood victims are not the only ones unhappy at the slow pace of rebuilding work in the state, which is run by the Islamist party, Pan-Malaysian Islamic Party (PAS).

Even the PAS central leadership is unhappy, as a visit by party leaders to Kota Baru recently for a briefing by the state government on post-flood reconstruction work revealed.

At a joint meeting between the state and federal governments earlier this year, it was agreed that all those who lost their homes would be given new ones.

Putrajaya promised to build 1,221 new homes while the state agreed to build 600 more.

But five months later, the federal authorities have only completed seven homes while the state has managed to complete 60, which have yet to be occupied.

Instead, the ones doing the most work to assist flood victims are non-governmental organisations and the private sector through their corporate social responsibility programmes.

Ambank, for instance, donated RM1 million (S$370,600) for the flood victims, where half was used to build 17 homes in Kual Hau, Kuala Krai. Insurers Etika Takaful and Prudential have also contributed.

A foundation, Yayasan Darul Hijrah, led by PAS vice-president Husam Musa, and Impian Kelantan, a joint effort between PAS and Democratic Action Party (DAP), PAS Youth, Ground Zero and other NGOs, have also done a fair share for the flood victims.

The worst thing for many flood victims now, besides their living conditions, is the state of limbo and not knowing how long their current situation will last.

“At first, they told us we would be moved to the national service camps on May 15, then three days later, we are still here.

“It gets so hot in the afternoon and when it rains, we are drenched as the tents have holes in them from wear and tear, said Ms Halizah Hassan, 31, who has been living in a tent since January.

According to her, flood victims were promised that their homes would be ready soon.

“At first they promised us it would be ready before the fasting month, then they tell us it will be ready after Raya.

“So it looks like we will have to fast and celebrate under the tent this year,” she said, disappointment etched on the face.

New homes promised by the federal government have been dubbed “Rumah Ku Li”, after Gua Musang MP Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah, who is popularly known by that moniker.

The houses will be built in Simpang Pulai, in his Gua Musang constituency.

Homes by the state government will be built under the Kelantan State Islamic Council in Tanah Putih, also in Gua Musang.

But now, it looks like no home will be ready by Ramadan.

Muslims around the world are expected to start fasting in the middle of June for a month, before celebrating Hari Raya.

The flood victims, however, still reeling from their loss and unable to move on without new homes, will have to brace themselves for a miserable Ramadan in their tents. THE MALAYSIAN INSIDER

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