PADANG TERAP: All agencies under the Rural Development Ministry have been instructed to prepare appropriate action plan in case flooding occurs on polling day.
Caretaker Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Mahdzir Khalid said the heads of agencies under the ministry have been briefed about the standard operating procedure (SOP) this Saturday.
"We have instructed the directors and chief executive officers of all the agencies under the ministry to respond accordingly in the event of flooding incidents on polling day.
"These include Kedah Regional Development Authority (Keda) in Kedah and the South Kelantan Development Authority (Kesedar) in Kelantan, which will take appropriate action and implement the proper SOP," he told reporters after attending a 'kenduri rakyat' in Kampung Nako here today.
Mahdzir, who is an Umno vice-president, shared his concern about potential flood that could strike rural areas across the country on polling day.
He also acknowledged concern over low voter turnout in the event of monsoon flooding, but remained hopeful that there will be fair weather on polling day.
"There is a possibility that (low voter turnout) could happen following such prediction (of flooding) and we are of course concerned about the floods threat.
"As for now, based on the weather report, it is expected to be fine during the daytime. Insya Allah, everything should be just fine, we hope so," he added.
Previously, the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) predicted thunderstorms, heavy rain and strong winds to hit several areas across the country from Nov 13 until voting day on Nov 19.
It was reported that the MetMalaysia's weather model analysis estimated that the extreme weather is set to mostly affect rural areas, western Peninsular Malaysia, Sarawak and western Sabah especially in the evening and lasting until night during this period.
