By Norrasyidah Arshad
SHAH ALAM, Nov 7 — The Selangor Agricultural Development Corporation (PKPS) has suffered nearly RM4 million in losses following flooding at its oil palm plantation in Sungai Panjang, Sabak Bernam, with water level rising by over metre.
Its chief executive officer Mohammad Khairul Mohammad Razi said as a result, palm fruits could not be harvested due to the high safety risk.
“The oil palm plantation spans 1,421 hectares, 70 percent of which was inundated. The flood occurred after a burst bund resulted in water from Sungai Bernam to enter the plantation area.
“Floods have been a recurring issue here, but this is the most severe we’ve witnessed. The burst bund caused the water from the river to swamp the plantation area. To make it worse, the flood water was stagnant.
“To avoid further losses, our workers have continued to harvest palm fruits in safe areas using boats,” he told Selangorkini.
Following the incident, Khairil expressed hope that there would be prompt bund maintenance to prevent a repeat in the future.
Heavy rainfall in the past few days has led to flooding in several areas in the state, including residential areas
As of 8am today, a total of 685 flood victims from 174 families were evacuated to 10 temporary relief centres after their houses were affected by the floods.
