If there is o­ne thing that most people have said about the way aid relief agencies responded initially to calls for help from Kuching's recent flood victims, it is that they have been disappointingly slow.

At least 1200 kampong-folks in Lampong Rantau Panjang,Sinar Budi and Sandong outside of Kuching City would not disagree with that.

In fact so furious was Parti Persaka Bumiputra Bersatu (PBB) Batu Kawa division chief Mohd Hashim Yap, who is also a PBB supreme council member, that he went public to criticise the slow response from the authorities, especially the Welfare Department, in coming to the aid of the flood victims.

After many of them had had to be evacuated from their flooded homes, they had expected help would be immediately organised to supply them with basic necessities such as mattresses, blankets,clothings and food.

Properties destroyed

"The situation would not have been that worse and losses would not have been that much if rescue teams had arrived early enough and helped them to evacuate," according to Kampong Sinar Budi village security and development head Mili Hussaini, reported a local English tabloid Malaysian Today today.

He said:" Our properties,especially bulky o­nes, such as electrical appliances, furnitures and vehicles, were left behind during the emergency evacuation and now many of them cannot be used anymore."

"We were extremely disappointed that we did not get much help from the rescue teams," he said, adding that the first team arrived o­nly 36 hours later (Wednesday evening) after all the victims were safely evacuated to the first floor of Junta Cafe.

Stale food

The Welfare Department came in from some of the severest criticisms when PBB Batu Kawa division co-ordinator Jemi Aleh was also quoted in Malaysian Today as saying that the 650 flood victims in Kampung Sebauk were even supplied with stale food.

The packed food had come in so late that they could no longer be eaten, he added.

Many areas in Kuching City and its outlying areas, especially at the upper section of Batu Kawa, Bau and Serian, were hit by flood waters that the authorities said were due to torrential rains coinciding with king ties and poor drainage system.

All in all more than 10,000 people living in and around Kuching and its suburbs were evacuated.

Worst floods in 40 years

Damage to crops and livestocks has been estimated at more than RM3 million, and initial newspaper reports that the government would compensate the flood victims for such losses were later denied by Deputy Chief Minister Dr George Chan Hong Nam.

There had been calls, including from the media, that the government should consider some form of compensation, especially for farmers and other flood victims whose houses had been badly damaged in what had been described as the worst floods in 40 years to have hit Kuching and its suburbs.

Meanwhile, Chan defended the rescue teams' efforts in responding to public calls for help. He said they had done a good job and had co-ordinated their efforts well.

Chan, who is also Finance Minister and Minister of Industrial Development, said aerial surveys had indicated the extent of the floods and considering this, the various rescue and aid relief teams had done a good job.