Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today said that he was impressed with the cooperation rendered by all quarters in Penang and Kedah in tackling the flood situations in the two northern states.

Without the cooperation, he said efforts to ensure safety and wellbeing of the victims, would not have been made possible.

“There were three factors that contributed to the success (of the flood operations), namely the close cooperation between the state and federal governments, the cooperation between state and federal agencies, and the cooperation between all non-governmental organisations in the two affected states.

“I’m really impressed to see that they had worked as a strong and very organised team,” he said when visiting flood evacuees at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Permatang Tok Dik in Kulim today.

Also present were Kedah Menteri Besar Ahmad Bashah Md Hanipah, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Shahidan Kassim and state secretary Bakar Din.

Earlier, Zahid was briefed by Bakar on the current flood situations in Kedah.

During the visit, the deputy prime minister also presented disaster aid to approximately 450 victims in the district.

As of 3pm today, a total of 2,614 flood evacuees are still taking shelter at over 20 relief centres in Kedah.

They comprised of 748 families from several districts including Yan, Kuala Muda and Kulim.

- Bernama