SHAH ALAM, 14 Oct: The arrival of the Selangor Humanitarian Aid Mission Association (PANTAS) delegation at the settlement which was hit by flood in Sabah recently was greeted by feelings of being moved and streams of tears by the residents.
The feelings of being touched, mixed with shock, was felt by flood victims when they realised that the aid that arrived did not come from the Sabah government, like it should, but from the Selangor government.
The PANTAS Mission Operations Leader, Hamsah Djabir, said that the Sabah government should not punish flood victims in the Parliamentary area simply because the majority of the residents there supported Pakatan Rakyat (PR) in the 13th General Election.
“They were indeed very touched. Some were in tears and they could not stop thanking us. Actually, they were rather disappointed when they own government did not extend help just because the area was dominated by Pakatan Rakyat (PR).
“We cannot differentiate political understanding skin colour and religion. This is what we do, everyone we help, even though they are Barisan Nasional (BN) supporters, we give them equally in our mission.
“This is a question of humanity. The help should come together as told by the Assemblyman of Inanam. He was personally very touched that even though PANTAS was from Selangor, but we still gave help. But he was disappointed by the state government’s actions of punishing the people of Penampang for supporting PR,” he said when contacted by Selangor Kini today.
The five-day PANTAS aid mission which was led by the Selangor State Executive Councillor, Dr Daroyah Alwi, started on October 9 at several flood areas such as Muyog, Kampung Kelingau, Inanam, Kabayau (landslide) and several other locations.
Among the assistance given was food like rice, sugar, flour, cooking oil and biscuits, some cash assistance to lighten the burden of the flood victims which involved about 500 families.
PANTAS also rented several machines to clean up the river so that rubbish and branches blocking the flow are cleared for the water to flow smoothly.
Prior to this, the Chief Minister of Selangor, Mohamed Azmin Ali,, announced that an allocation for aid amounting to RM50,000 will be channelled to PANTAS to be channelled to the flood victims in Sabah.
NS