PUTRAJAYA: The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will build eight new permanent flood evacuation centres.
Nadma director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus said the agency was in the tendering process for the facilities.
"Currently, one permanent evacuation centre has been completed and it is fully operational.
"The centre is in Taman Kota Jaya, Kota Tinggi, Johor, and it can house 400 people."
He said this after an inter-agency engagement session with the media on preparations for the northeast monsoon at the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) Base in Pulau Meranti here today.
He said the agency was upgrading the Kota Tinggi centre to increase its capacity to 500 people and improve amenities.
"The new centres will be built in Sabah, Sarawak, Kelantan, Terengganu, Perak and Penang.
"The ceiling cost for each of these centres has been set at RM5 million."
He said Nadma hoped to reduce reliance on schools as temporary flood relief centres once the permanent centres were completed.
He said the new centres would be built near schools, which would be allowed to use the buildings when they were not used for flood relief.
"We estimate that the centres will be completed in 15 months."
During his presentation, Khairul Shahril said Nadma welcomed aid and help from non-governmental organisations for flood victims.
"Interested NGOs can join us as Rakan Nadma to ensure aid is distributed efficiently to avoid wastage.
"Those who join will be given access to the Rakan Nadma application. They will be responsible for sending reports to us about the latest situation on the ground.
"They can share information on what type of aid is needed when a flood hits."