RANTAU PANJANG: Residents living along the Golok river have called on the government to follow its Thai counterpart in addressing flood woes.
They claimed that Thai authorities managed to prevent the low-lying areas from flooding, especially in Sungai Golok town opposite Rantau Panjang by setting up concrete fence along the river.
The Thai authorities also used pumps to channel flood water from the low-lying areas directly to Golok river.
Trader who only wanted to be known as Norasiah said the Malaysian government should follow the move by its Thai counterpart as it has proved successful.
"We, the residents who live along the Golok river, have been facing this problem for many years and suffered huge damages due to the yearly monsoon season.
"Our government has been making various efforts in solving the flood issues like the Sungai Golok mitigation project but our villages still being submerged by flood.
"We hopes the government will look into this seriously," said the 48-year-old who lives about 30 metres from the river.
Another villager Ramli Noor said his relative, who lived in Sungai Golok town, told him that his house was not inundated in the latest flood.
"My relative told me that the Thai government decided to pump flood water from the flooding area into the river to prevent more area being hit by the flood.
"I hope our government will take similar move so that we will not suffer more losses," said the 67-year-old father of four.
It is learnt that apart from setting up the concrete fence, the Thai government also placed several units of water pumps along the river since last week to help them in solving flood problem.