Health dept urged to monitor flood victims to prevent spread of Covid-19

Uggah (third left) with a flood victim at Dewan Millenia in Debak during his visit with Betong MP Dr Richard Rapu (second right) and Saribas assemblyman Datuk Mohd Razi Sitam (right) on Jan 20, 2024.

KUCHING, Jan 20: Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas urged the Sarawak Health Department to monitor flood victims closely to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

Uggah, who is also the Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) chairman, said this is to prevent more setbacks for the victims.

“Overly, I am happy with the preparations put in by the various departments there. I am very satisfied with their close cooperation with regard to providing food, bedding, and other facilities needed there,” he told reporters after visiting 364 flood victims at the Dewan Millenia and Dewan Perpaduan temporary evacuation centres in Debak today.

Dewan Millennia currently houses 141 people from 39 families, while Dewan Perpaduan has 223 people from 71 families. The victims are from Kampung Babu, Kampung Bungey, and Kampung Lalang.

Meanwhile, Uggah said he hoped that the flood problem in the area would be addressed by the flood mitigation projects that are currently being implemented.

At the moment, he said, the project is at 9 per cent.

“We will talk to the Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) to speed up its completion since it was started after the Covid-19 pandemic,” he added. — DayakDaily