Sabah government prepares contingency plan for monsoon season

 By Olivia Miwil - September 13, 2021 @ 6:39pm

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor and State Secretary Datuk Seri Safar Untong as well as heads of related agencies in Sabah taking part in the virtual Natural Disaster Management Committee meeting. -Pic courtesy of Sabah Chief Minister's office

KOTA KINABALU: The state government has prepared a contingency plan in anticipation of the monsoon season.

Sabah Chief Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor said the state had activated its Disaster Management Committee following several natural disaster incidents.

These incidents had wrecked havoc and caused extensive damages to infrastructure and properties in several districts such as Beaufort and Penampang, as well as other areas in Sabah.

"It is estimated that RM147 million is needed to repair the damages," he said, adding that the state government hoped assistance would be forthcoming from the federal government.

Hajiji said that 302 temporary evacuation centres had been identified, and 14 agencies with a manpower of 6,800 had been activated.

He also said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob had agreed to expedite the setting up of the Tawau Field Hospital to assist the state in fighting the Covid-19 pandemic.

Hajiji had made the request during an online National Disaster Management Committee meeting chaired by the prime minister.

He said the reopening of the field hospital in Tawau was pressing since the upgrading works for the Tawau District Hospital was only 60 per cent complete.

Sabah recorded 1,649 Covid-19 cases today and detected a new cluster known as the Desa Jeroco 2 cluster in Kinabatangan.