KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah government has been urged to urgently set up a Cabinet Flood Mitigation Committee to consider and come up with flood mitigation programs to solve the overflowing of the Pagalan and Padas Rivers in the interior.
STAR Sabah chief Datuk Dr Jeffrey Kitingan said an immediate step could be to deepen the rivers and to build a diversion channel to divert excessive water to reduce the water levels and flooding.
He pointed out one of the main causes of the floods in Keningau, Tenom and Beaufort was the Pagalan and Padas Rivers bursting their banks due to the incessant rains.
For funding, he said the Sabah government should ask for the amount needed to be set off from the RM26.6 billion oil revenue that would be taken from Sabah in 2014.
The third round of devastating floods had ravaged Sabah with the loss of a child’s life on Thursday.
More than 30 villages in Tambunan, Keningau and Tenom were flooded with more than 2,000 evacuees in flood relief centres.
There were also reports of serious flooding in the district of Beaufort and flash floods in many other parts of Sabah.
Some 36 schools were also flooded and had to be closed.