KOTA BAHARU: The British government will send its team to help Malaysia implement the recommendations of the post-flood recovery programme.
Counsellor for Foreign Policy and Security at the British High Commission here, Nikesh Mehta said the British government has sent experts to Kelantan to share knowledge on how they addressed the flood in 2013 and last year.
“I am very pleased that we are able to bring our experts to Kelantan to share their knowledge. In future, the British High Commission may actually lead the team here and help to implement the recommendations.
“Of course, it is for the Malaysian government to decide what the implementation will look like, but we stand ready to support,” he told reporters after attending the Roundtable Discussion on Effective Flood Mitigation in Kelantan here yesterday.
Also present were Dr Azuhan Mohamed, the Deputy Director of Flood Mitigation and Infrastructure, Post-Flood Recovery Unit (JPM) and Ng Yeen Seen, the founder of Ops Harapan.
Ops Harapan had cooperated with the British High Commission to raise fund from British companies based in Malaysia to bring the UK experts to conduct their research here.
“The British community sent out an appeal for funds under the #UKMYunite and
“We raised quite a lot of money for post-flood recovery programmes. We also received a donation from the (British) Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”
Nikesh said the post-flood recovery programme involve two stages.
“Under the first stage, we will assess the situation on the ground and see what our experts think. They will also share their experience and advice on what will happen next.
“The second stage is where Ops Harapan, the Post-Flood Recovery Unit, the relevant state and federal agencies work to implement the recommendations.”
The UK disaster experts here for the two-day roundtable discussion include two from civil engineering companies CH2M Hill and HR Wallingford.
They were Mike Cope (CH2M Hill), Geoff Wilson (HR Wallingford) and Nick Weight from the UK Meteorology Office. — Bernama