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Media Comment
by Ronnie Liu
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(Petaling Jaya, Sunday) :  Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Badawi has finally visited some of the flooded areas on Saturday. He has given order to all rescue units to provide food, water and medicine to all flood victims. He must have gone back to his comfortable home in Putrajaya by now but little does he knows that his people in the grounds are not performing as expected. A district councillor from Tangkak told Nanyang Siang Pau that the rescue units in his area did not work around the clock. They still work from 9 to 5 as usual and some of them do not even report to work on time. Many flood victims were forced to charter boats from the private sectors to save their lives and belongings.

Yesterday, The President of Johor Chinese Chamber of Commerce Datuk Lim Ba complained to the press that he was stucked in the flood for more than 18 hours and he personally witnessed some rescue boats simply ignore victims( incl children and old folks) who have climbed to the rooftops. Some of them were stucked there for more than 20 hours. He believes that many have lost confidence with the Government. (Yes, my brothers and sisters in Johor, please wake up to the fact that the Umno-led government they have trusted for years actually "tak boleh harap"!)

Najib said he has sent some 80 boats ( mana cukup?) and several helicopters. And how about Ong Ka Ting who leads the Bomba and Penyelamat department? What has he done for the flood victims?

By right, Ong should be directing all local government like MBPJ, DBKL, MPAJ to send their enforcement officers to help rescue the victims (instead of tearing down squatter homes). AAB should mobilise the FRUs to help as well, instead of bashing the protestors in the streets.

Meanwhile, the water levels at Sg Muar, Sg Segamat and several other rivers in Johor are still way above the alarming levels according to the latest report from several Chinese newspapers.

Opposition Leader Lim Kit Siang has led a delegation to visit Segamat and other flooded areas this afternoon.

The Johor DAP has set up a "humanitarian helpline" to provide clean water and other assistance to the victims. They could be reached at 012-737 1058／019-721 7256／07-512 7652／012-737 7654. Our PJ Action Team has donated some money towards the fund under the "Sunshine Project" yesterday.

(24/12/2006)