A decade after 'you help me, I help you' speech, Sibu's 'waterworld' persists

SARAWAK POLLS | Several days before the Sibu by-election in 2010, then prime minister Najib Abdul Razak made his infamous "You help me, I help you" speech while campaigning in Rajang Park, Sibu.

At the time, he said if Sarawak BN candidate Robert Lau won, his administration will sign an RM5 million cheque for a flood mitigation project.

Although Sarawak BN was unsuccessful in the by-election, Putrajaya and the Sarawak government have spent hundreds of millions ringgit on three phases of Sibu's flood mitigation project.

Eleven years after Najib's speech, Sibu's residents will go to the polls again this Saturday but their flood woes remain unresolved.

Rajang Park resident Wan Delimawati, 48, told Malaysiakini that her home has been flooded three times this year alone.

The last incident happened last month. She said her kitchen was flooded. The most damage was done to the family car and motorcycle.

"If there is heavy rain, the flood waters will come. If it floods in the morning...