Photo taken on January 13, 2021, shows temporary tents set up for the evacuees at Balairaya Kampung Desa Wira Lot, Lorong 10.
KUCHING (Dec 27): A total of 631 temporary evacuation centres have been set up across Sarawak to cope with possible floods and to address the needs of some 188,360 victims.
According to State Welfare Department director Noriah Ahmad, 155 from the total are in Kuching, followed by Miri (95), Sri Aman (59) and Samarahan (50).
Sibu has 40 similar facilities, followed by Serian (43), Mukah (36), Betong (34), Sarikei (31), Kapit (28), Bintulu (27) and Limbang (25).
“All the centres involve school facilities, public halls, community halls and local community centers,” she said when contacted by The Borneo Post’s sister paper Utusan Borneo today.
She was prompted for the department’s preparations for possible floods following the forecast continuous rain in west parts of Sarawak until Wednesday.
Noriah said her department along with other relevant agencies had done all the necessary preparations including logistics, placement needs and essential food since September.
She pointed that that the State Welfare Department alone was ready to mobilise as many as 1,883 personnel for any flood-related operations in Sarawak.
In a breakdown, she said 485 personnel out of the total are the department’s staff, 14 of them counsellors and the remaining 1,334 are volunteers.
She said the department had also come up with four additional frontline bases to deal with unexpected challenges.
She added that the four frontline bases are all in Bau – Jugan, Seberang Buso, Bogag and Suba Buan.
Prior to this, Noriah said 19 frontline bases had been set up, of which eight are in Miri followed by Bintulu (3), Kuching (2), Mukah (2), Sri Aman (1), Betong (1), Sarikei (1) and Kapit (1).
“And with the addition of four frontline bases in the Bau district, it brings the total number to 23 which will make it easier for us to render immediate assistance to flood victims,” she explained.
She pledged that her department, in collaboration with other agencies concerned, is committed to reaching out to flood victims across Sarawak.
She added that the State Flood Operations Control Centre had been activated as of noon today.