ALOR STAR: Students from Kedah Regional Development Authority (Keda) College students will assist with repairing electrical items and motorcycles damaged by the floods.
Keda general manager Ismasuhaimi Shariff said volunteers from the agency would carry out a survey before the students are deployed to assist the flood victims. "The Keda Volunteers Squad will identify the flood victims who require assistance, then we will find the spare parts that are required.
"Our (Keda College) students will apply their skills to fix the electrical appliances and motorcycles damaged by the flood.
"We hope that this small assistance will help to ease their burden," he said after presenting food baskets to flood victims in Tongkang Yard here today.
Ismasuhaimi presented 50 food baskets comprising essential items such as rice and sugar to Masjid Al-Ehsan's committee to be distributed to the affected residents.
He said Keda, an agency under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, has allocated RM115,000 to provide food baskets to the flood victims under its Santuni Madani programme.
He said RM80,000 worth of food baskets will be distributed to flood victims outside Desa Keda areas and the remaining allocation is set aside for Keda employees affected by the floods.
"The food basket will be distributed to flood victims soon, and we have also mobilised our volunteers to assist them."
Ismasuhaimi added that 28 units in the Desa Keda settlements in Sik, Baling and Kuala Muda suffered damage when their roofs were blown away during the recent thunderstorm.
"We will evaluate the damage reported in Keda and forward the information to the ministry for the next course of action," he said.
Meanwhile, a recipient of the food basket, Mohd Yatim Mohd Akhir, 68, thanked Keda for easing the victims' burden.
Yatim, who suffered a stroke six years ago, said the flood last week was the worst in recent years.
"This area was submerged for almost three days. My four family members decided to stay at the house instead of relocating as it was still safe for us to seek shelter on the upper floor," he said.