KOTA KINABALU: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim has called for immediate action to provide aid to flood and landslide victims in Sabah while accelerating infrastructure repairs.
Anwar, who also serves as Finance Minister, emphasised that repairing disaster-damaged buildings and roads must become an urgent priority without following standard bureaucratic processes.
This directive includes constructing a new building at the Gaya Teacher Education Institute campus recently affected by landslides.
“I don’t want us to follow the normal process because this flood and the damage are not normal,“ he stated during a site inspection.
“If we follow the normal process, it will take too long to complete the access road.”
He confirmed instructing authorities to expedite all recovery efforts following his assessment of the landslide site with Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor.
Anwar announced coordinated infrastructure repair and aid distribution efforts between federal and Sabah state governments to ensure immediate disaster response.
He approved an immediate allocation of 10 million ringgit through the National Disaster Management Agency to assist flood victims in Sabah.
“Now we only assist the families with food, drinks and shelter,“ Anwar stated regarding the initial relief measures.
He acknowledged that some needs would definitely require more allocations after the initial flood relief phase.
However, the total estimated cost of infrastructure restoration allocations required has not yet been submitted to the federal government.
Anwar thanked all federal and Sabah government agency personnel for their alertness and hard work in evacuating flood victims to temporary relief centres.
He specifically commended efforts to restore power supplies to the affected areas throughout the disaster response.
“Thank you to the Chief Minister Hajiji and the Sabah government for swiftly carrying out these efforts,“ he added.
Regarding the Gaya IPG campus, Anwar noted that Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek had submitted an early report to the Cabinet on Wednesday.
The government awaits the final engineering report to determine whether the campus can remain or requires redevelopment in its current location.
“We will negotiate with the state government to get a new area to be developed as soon as possible,“ Anwar said about potential relocation plans.
According to the Sabah State Disaster Management Committee, 2,256 people from 710 families are currently sheltering at temporary relief centres.
The landslides in the state have so far claimed 13 lives, while one person died due to flooding directly. – Bernama