About 20 experts related to water, forests and floods from various universities in the country have formed a special research group with respect to the floods in Kelantan beginning January 9, 2015, while conducting research towards overcoming the floods which occurred in December 2014. Our Prime Minister Dato’ Seri Najib Razak has urged experts from universities to investigate the actual cause of this disasters and come up with guidelines on how to overcome the bad situation and to have a sustainable development.”I want all local universities to give their input to the government in formulating and finding the best suitable method to solve the current flood issues and to make early preparation for the future.” Najib said when launching the Tun Razak Building at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) on January 8, 2015.
The Deputy Secretary II Ministry of Education, Dato ‘Seri Zaini Ujang said, this study is to achieve the target expected within a year, experts may be able to obtain a true picture of the causes of the severe flooding occurs. This expert group led by the Dean of Water Research, Professor Dr Zulkifili Yusop make a follow-up study on prompt by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak who asked all local universities make a thorough study towards resolving the problem of floods.
This study mission began on January 8, 2014 ago. So far two trips to the monitoring work has already done by IPASA. The first trip was to visit the places most affected by the floods and to make a preliminary study of the causes of natural disasters. The second trip was to study the degree of water pollution in the area close to the water treatment plant. This trip was focusing more and more attention to the cleanliness of the water for use by residents fearing the spread of E. coli bacteria in the water supply system. Water analysis were carried out on the second trip using the IPASA Mobile Lab.
This trip was led by Prof. Dr. Abdull Rahim Yusoff (The Dean of IPASA) along with Prof. Dr. Maketab Mohamed (The President of Malaysian Nature Society) and Prof Dr Zulkifili Yusop (Dean Water Research) and assisted by 2 research assistant Mohd Faizuan and Muhammad Anwar . During this first trip, UTM has collaborated with experts from Universiti Malaysia Kelantan and activists from the Malaysian Nature Society to ensure the success of this expedition flood studies. Places that were visited are areas and regions that have been hit by floods in the state of Kelantan starting at Kota Bharu, Kelantan, Pasir Mas, Manek Urai , Dabong and ended at Gua Musang. This research expedition was conducted for 7 days.