BALING: "I wish to ask all the villagers here. Are you satisfied with the government findings on the July 4 massive floods?"
That was the question asked by Iboi Charitable Organisation chairman Dr Syuhaimi Zakaria to the crowd of some 300 people from 13 villages, in Kupang sub-district, who gathered at Sungai Kupang riverbank in Kampung Iboi here.
The site was ground zero for the destructive floods which ravaged over 40 villages here nearly two months ago.
"No! We want RCI (Royal Commission of Inquiry)!" replied the crowd, comprising of villagers from all walks of life, including farmers and housewives.
The villagers are firm in demanding the government set up an RCI.
To the villagers, the 66-page findings by multiple agencies under the Energy and Natural Resources Ministry were merely explaining the geological disaster that washed down debris and mud which destroyed their settlements.
"We, the villagers from Bok Bak to Kupang located along the Sungai Kupang basin, are demanding for the Kedah state government to form an RCI to conduct a thorough investigations into all the issues in Gunung Inas.
"We are also demanding for all the proposals, approval letters, EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) report, agreements, revenues earned by the state government and the private entities as well as all the reports by agencies involved to be made public. Let the facts speak for themselves.
"We, as villagers and victims of the floods disaster, have the right to know all the facts because we are the ones who are suffering from the development," Dr Syuhaimi said while reading an eight-page memorandum of demand by the affected villagers.
He added that the RCI was imperative to identify what had actually happened to Gunung Inas which later contributed to the destructive flood disaster.
"By identifying the responsible parties that contributed to the disaster, the flood victims are able to file their claims for the losses they suffered," he said.
The memorandum covers their demand concerning five main topics; security, economy, environment, welfare and health.
Among others, the villagers were calling for the government to expedite the rolling out of short-term and long-term mitigation measures to manage future debris floods as suggested in ministry's report.
"A disaster early warning system must be installed immediately because the villagers are restless whenever it rains heavily as we are still traumatised by the disaster.
"We are also calling for river deepening works to be expedited as the sand and mud sludge from the floods need to be cleaned up while the riverbanks need to be repaired," he said.
Dr Syuhaimi reiterated the villagers' demand for the state government to demolish all reservoirs and sedimentation pond on musang king farm in Gunung Inas which had flouted the EIA guidelines.
He said those were the Merdeka wishes of the villagers, as they wanted Gunung Inas to be freed from destructive development.
Dr Syuhaimi added that the memorandum is to be handed to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob and Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Muhammad Sanusi Md Nor during the prime minister's working visit to Kampung Iboi tomorrow.