50 joined Post-Flood Volunteer Mission in Mentakab

MENTAKAB, 26 December 2021 - Sludge and muddy water were like an ocean of ‘teh tarik’ in several flood locations in Mentakab.

Various stories were shared by the residents when they realised that the flood water had hit the roofs of their houses in Taman Mentakab Indah last Saturday.

The area has been hit by floods several times; however, according to the UMP student who is studying at the Faculty of Industrial Management (FIM), Mohamad Hakimi Mohd Nor who has lived with his family for several years here said, the disaster this time is quite unusual.

“In a short time, the water had risen so high that it forced us to move and seek shelter in a safer place.

“The highest water level was recorded in last January which was about an inch from the ceiling, but this time it exceeded the roof of the house.

“Usually, we put electrical appliances and other necessities on the ceiling that was built for floods but this time no items were safe because the house was completely submerged in water,” he said.

This is one of the stories shared by UMP students when they were visited by UMP students in the Post-Flood Volunteer Mission Programme in Mentakab recently.

For Putri Nur Farhanah Mohd Shamsuddin, whose house was also badly affected by the floods, she and her family were moved by UMP volunteers to help clean her flooded house.

“The assistance from fellow students helped us a lot in speeding up the house cleaning work.

“Seeing the damage suffered and almost all the items were full of dirt and muddy water, it was definitely difficult to clean.

“What’s more, cleaning efforts were hindered due to the lack of clean water supply,” she said, who also received assistance from her relatives in obtaining a clean water supply.

For UMP volunteer Kong Heng Leong, who is a Bachelor of Industrial Biotechnology student at the Faculty of Industrial Sciences and Technology (FIST), the lack of water is one of the challenges for his group to continue the housecleaning activity for houses that are muddy with sludge clinging to the walls, floor, and necessities so that most of them had to be discarded.

He said they had to move all the items to an open area and the situation was more difficult because the mud had dried and stuck to the furniture making it difficult to clean.  

Volunteers are also always advised to take care of their health and safety while cleaning by wearing rubber gloves and face masks.

Today, a total of 50 student volunteers are at Taman Mentakab Indah to help clean students’ and the community’s houses here.

The programme was also joined by the Dean of Student Services, Department of Student Affairs (JHEP), Associate Professor Dr. Mansor Sulaiman, JHEP Senior Manager, Haryani Abdullah and JHEP Manager, Zainal Bahari.

In addition to cleaning the house, volunteers also helped distribute essential items from NGOs to each house as each lane was filled with piles of items to be discarded, making it difficult for them to move and causing disruption to the in-and-out movement of vehicles.

By: Mimi Rabita Abdul Wahit, Corporate Communications Unit, The Office of The Vice-Chancellor

Translation by: Dr. Rozaimi Abu Samah, Engineering College/Faculty of Chemical and Process Engineering Technology