AFTER flood waters have receded in many parts of Peninsula Malaysia, Environment and Water Minister Datuk Seri Tuan Ibrahim Tuan Man finally decided to address the tragedy which claimed many lives.
And he blamed the public for not taking weather forecast seriously!
According to a report on Berita Harian, the PAS leader claimed that the public seldom take weather forecast seriously and thought flood only happens in the East Coast region.
“All major news outlets have reported that rain will come over the weekend. In fact, the Meteorological Department had informed the people using several applications.
“However, very little people took it seriously, resulting in everyone not being prepared for the floods,” the PAS leader said.
However, netizens were unimpressed with Tuan Ibrahim’s attempt to deflect blame on the public and lashed out at him.
Echoing Rana’s sentiments, user May Yap added:
Netizen Traxx Silverfield retorted with a jest: “Haha now the blame game begins. Covid virus going rampant, blame rakyat. Now flooding, also blame rakyat. Next time constipation, also blame rakyat. Mangkuk (moron).”
It is to note that while the Meteorological Department did warn the public of rainy weather, it did not indicate the severity of it until the flooding had already started.
During the floods, the public took it upon themselves to conduct their own rescue mission to help victims after the National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) failed to mobilise.
It was also reported that the Defence Ministry, along with the Armed Forces, decided to “bypass” NADMA to help flood victims due to the latter’s poor response to the catastrophe.
Where were you hiding?
Touching on the matter, user Aziz Shukor reminded Tuan Ibrahim that the latter himself had ignored prior warnings by PKR Nurul Izzah Anwar on the impending flood several months back.
Netizen Chin Han Hui added that Tuan Ibrahim failed to see the real problem in the situation, which is the country’s poor water management system.
User Caroline Thum retorted by saying:
“Where have you been hiding all this while? (You) only come out to make statements when situation the flood waters have subsided. (Such a) hopeless Minister of Environment. He is not fit for the job.” – Dec 25, 2021
