KUALA LUMPUR: The government has announced its commitment to provide adequate funding to solve the flood issues in Sungai Golok in Kelantan.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said allocations would be provided to dig and clean up the estuary.
He said the shallow estuary was one of the contributors of floods in the region as the river had not undergone proper maintenance.
"I informed the Thai prime minister (Srettha Thavisin) that as long as the estuary is not dredged, water will overflow and affect Kelantan and surrounding areas in Narathiwat. We have witnessed this issue continuing year after year.
"(Foreign Minister) Datuk Seri Mohamad Hasan and his Thai counterpart will hold a meeting on Tuesday, and this is one of the topics that will be decided on.
"Both prime ministers have agreed to expedite the process from a policy perspective, and once it is resolved at the technical level, we will allocate sufficient financial resources to continue dredging and cleaning the river to prevent blockages from obstructing its flow to the sea," Anwar said in his visit working visit to Rantau Panjang, Kelantan, and Sungai Golok in Narathiwat, Thailand.
He added that the developments shared by the two countries signalled efforts to ensure economic development in the northern part of Peninsular Malaysia and the southern part of Thailand.
In December last year, Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Mohamed Fadzli Hassan said delays in the flood mitigation project at Sungai Golok were the contributing factors behind the floods in Rantau Panjang.
He said while Thailand had completed the mitigation project on its side of the river, Malaysia had yet to even complete the initial phase.
Thus, Fadzli asked the Federal Government to complete the three phases of the mitigation works as soon as possible.