YOURSAY | The 'flood' buck should stop with the PM

YOURSAY | 'I'd have expected words of sympathy and assurances, not finger-pointing.'

S'gor floods: PM blames weakness at state and district levels

Mazilamani: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob, had the victims been your own flesh and blood or extended family members, would you have said what you said in Parliament? No, you would have shredded the relevant government departments involved.

When did you discover or realise the weaknesses of the states and districts and their deficit in quick response? And what did you, as PM, do for the people? Show us solid proof that you had coordinated any kind of measures or were among the first to reach the flood victims.

And what measures have you proposed to prevent future floods? Did you reach out to the people in Taman Sri Muda or did your convoy just fly past?

People might not like this, but surely former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak would have done a reasonably good job and healing of hearts. We saw that during the Penang floods at the time of Lim Guan Eng's leadership, Najib deployed the army to assist in the rescue operations.

This is not the time to be finger-pointing but to look into means to aid the people who have lost everything.

Many businesses in Taman Sri Muda will stay closed for good. They don't have the means to renovate their shop-lots or replenish their stocks. This means many will be out of jobs.

I would have expected words of sympathy and assurances from a PM, not finger-pointing when the people are just gradually learning to accept what they have already endured.

1557298803923: This clearly shows the PM was biased against Selangor over the lacklustre disaster response.

Just because he hails from Pahang, he proclaims the state was prepared in facing the flood situation. Doesn't it sound idiotic? In fact, we, the rakyat, know very well how “prepared” Pahang was in facing the floods.

The PM forgot that his so-called cabinet ministers were holidaying during the floods, and he had to call them to return home to help him in facing the flood situation.

Also, we know for a fact how the rakyat were reaching out to people in areas like Mentakab and Temerloh in Pahang even before their respective state and district officials responded to the cry of the people affected by the floods.

Doc: I thought in typical PN fashion, Ismail was going to blame the cause for the flood disaster on "God" and the dismal flood disaster management on the "DAP".

Can I assume that the PN government also scored a 90 percent mark in its “excellent” flood disaster management?

Frankly, the PM should be given a 99 percent approval rating for his “excellent” job in shovelling mud.

This is not to mention Women, Family and Community Development Minister Rina Harun's spray cleaning of an already cleaned-up school, International Trade and Industry Minister Azmin Ali sweeping a flood victim's house and Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz's speed boat trip bringing tears to my eyes. Sadly, it was not tears of joy.

Anonymous 79: I called 999 three times for help because my area was cut off by the rising water and there was no food and drink. But not a single Bomba and police personnel came to help.

Why Mr PM? Is that the Selangor government's fault? Police and Bomba are under who?

What I can see however was police officers escorting you and taking nice pictures for social media. But not a single one of them came to help me.

What were you doing on Dec 17 and 18? When were you told about the floods in Taman Sri Muda? Why did the residents there need to wait for two days for help to arrive?

Noor M: Here are some suggested solutions to these seven problems mentioned by Ismail Sabri.

1. The environment was dark.

Next time we will ask the floods to strike only during day time.

2. Many flood victims refused to leave their homes.

Did you mean after three days and when the water level was at ankle depth? Yes, it's rakyat's fault.

3. Stranded vehicles at entrances obstructed rescue vehicles.

We will avoid parking on the roadside. We have learned our lesson and will park on rooftops instead.

4. Rescue boats were obstructed by submerged vehicles.

Noted, we will ensure our vehicles would float next time. I mean those that are not parked on rooftops.

5. Out-of-state rescuers were unfamiliar with the terrain.

We should send our police, army and Bomba personnel to geography class. But if I was there, I could use Waze to get a sense of orientation and move in to do what was needed to be done.

6. Premises intended as relief centres were themselves flooded.

Noted, but the rakyat didn't ask for a palatial bungalow. All we wanted was just to take us out from the flood water and bring us to safety. We can think about the rest later.

7. Loss of electricity and communication infrastructure.

Yes, it did happen, and thanks to Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) for doing the right thing, or else more lives would have been lost. The loss of communications mainly lies with the authorities, not us, the rakyat.

Koel: Only someone with the thickest hide and a complete lack of intelligence would blame victims of a disaster.

So now it is the state's fault, the fault of submerged cars, the fault of 'darkness' and the fault of the people.

Malaysianmalaysian: The buck must stop with the top man. What is the point of holding the topmost position if the person blames others instead of being a leader and fixing and resolving problems? 

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