The government’s poor rescue response towards the flood not only caused frustration and anger among the public, the “touch and go” style of authorities visiting flood areas without any proper assistance also invited criticism.

When Kinitv visited Taman Chegar Medang at Benus, Bentong in Pahang yesterday, garbage was piled up on roads in front of the flood victims’ houses, mud was still seen covering much of the area.

That was already the fifth day after floodwaters subsided last Sunday afternoon.

Zalmiah Wahab, 61 told Kinitv that the residents are facing hard times cleaning up their houses due to a low supply of water and electricity.

“We were only left with a piece of pants and cloth, nothing else. Fortunately, we still managed to save our lives,” she said.

When asked whether any aid was delivered by the government agencies during the aftermath, Zalmiah lamented that Pahang Menteri Besar Wan Rosdy Wan Ismail’s vehicle convoy merely “checked in” at her residential area.

“The government did come. But they just said ‘bye bye’ to us. They did not even come out (from their cars).

“They came from Kuantan I think. MB was there too. But he did not come to us, he just stayed in his car,” she claimed.

Zalmiah Wahab (in red)

However, based on Wan Rosdy’s Facebook update yesterday, he visited several flood areas in Bentong including Kampung Chegar Medang.

He also announced that the state government will hand out a special cash aid of RM500 to each household affected by floods.

Read more: Not true I only waved at flood victims, says Pahang MB

Meanwhile, Zalmiah’s grandson, Fazri, 23, added that the residents were fortunate to have received food and basic necessities from outsiders and NGOs.

“We are really thankful and appreciate the help given by the public,” he said.

However, Fazri said cleaning up drains clogged with silt is the biggest challenge for residents.

“The ditch is blocked. The local authorities should have come to dredge it, but they did not come and the water couldn’t flow out at all.

“We have been cleaning for more than four days but it is useless because the water is still there. What can we do? Just wait and see,” he said.

He hoped the local government could send the Fire and Rescue Department to dig out the mud as the residents were unable to do it themselves.

Taman Chegar Medang is one of the hardest-hit areas by the recent floods in Bentong, which is located under the Ketari constituency, next to Karak road.

The water level surged as high as the roof when the floods struck last Saturday night, causing huge losses to residents.

Another flood victim, 24-year-old Muhd Amzar Nazri, said local representative Young Syefura Othman was one of the fastest to deliver aid to the area when asked about the government's rescue efficiency.

Syefura is DAP's Ketari assemblyperson.

“As far as I know, Rara (Syefura) gave out quite a lot of aid, including mattresses and food.

“On Wednesday, she also contributed lorries and backhoe to speed up the cleaning progress. I think she acted quite quickly on this,” the college student added.

On the other hand, Kinitv also met one volunteer from Muda Johor in Taman Chegar Medang, who criticised the absence of government agencies in flood areas.

“Personally speaking, I do not know whether this is an anarchic country or a country that has a government.

“Clearly, we can see way more rakyat (people) here but no government agencies. Please, the government please look over Pahang here. People are in dire need of help.

“Of course, we can offer help as a citizen, it is our duty. But it is the government’s responsibility,” he stressed.

Recently, frustration and anger over the government’s poor rescue response towards the floods as well as some politicians’ perceived exploitation of the disaster for publicity boiled over on social media.

Netizens have posted various videos of flood victims reacting negatively to ministers visiting the affected areas or pointing out the lacklustre rescue and relief efforts by the government, among others.

As of today (Dec 24), the death toll from the recent floods has been 41, including 15 from Pahang.

According to Bernama, there are 37,356 flood victims sheltered in 264 temporary flood relief centres in Pahang.