Kota Belud, the ‘rice bowl’ of Sabah, is looking at RM29 million in losses, when nearly 7,000 hectares of paddy fields have been severely damaged by floods that hit the district following heavy rainfall on Saturday.
Kota Belud Integrated Agricultural Development Area (IADA) director, Salmah Labulla said that the estimated losses were calculated based on the potential yield, current market price and the costs involved in cultivation.
“Based on aerial view, we found the entire area of about 7,000 hectares of paddy fields have been affected by the floods with losses estimated at RM29 million”, she told Bernama.
On Saturday, heavy rainfall has left 11 districts and 152 villages in Sabah inundated in floodwaters including Kota Belud, Tenom, Beaufort, Papar, Tuaran and Penampang.
Salmah said, that almost half of paddy fields in Kota Belud which were about to be harvested, were covered in mud and at risk of being damaged by the floods.
She said that the fate of 3,000 affected farmers would be given attention through the disaster relief programme, as they would receive between RM800 and RM1,000 per hectare each, depend on the age of their crops, to ease their burden.
In the meantime, several approaches had to be implemented to prevent such problems from recurring, which include looking at the need for a dam to be built to control water levels as part of future planning, as well as deepening the rivers in Kota Belud, she said.
Meanwhile, some farmers met by Bernama expressed their sadness after seeing their crops which were supposed to be harvested in just a few days' time were damaged by the floods.
One of the farmers, Perin Rahil, said that his two hectares of paddy were damaged and his losses were estimated at about RM11,000, thus affecting his income to support his family.
For Amran Sibin, assistance from the government was very much needed to ease the burden on the farmers in Kota Belud who have suffered huge losses as a result of damaged rice fields.
Another farmer, Makdin Umpong, who was to harvest his rice this week, was saddened by the calamity but he accepted it as something totally unexpected. - BERNAMA
Bernama
Wed Jul 01 2020
The estimated losses were calculated based on the potential yield, current market price and the costs involved in cultivation. - Pic BERNAMA
Malaysia manfaat platform WEF untuk suarakan kesepakatan negara-negara Islam
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim menggunakan pertemuannya dengan pemimpin negara Islam bagi menyuarakan harapan agar keganasan di Gaza dihentikan.
'Geng Bob' tumpas, lima ditahan disyaki edar dadah
Kesemua suspek yang mempunyai pertalian keluarga dan aktif mengedar dadah antara enam hingga lapan bulan lalu itu ditahan jam 10.50 malam.
Anwar bertemu PM Qatar, zahirkan kesediaan Malaysia beri rawatan kepada rakyat Palestin
Perkara itu dimaklumkan oleh Anwar kepada Perdana Menteri Qatar Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Jassim Al Thani pada pertemuan dua hala.
Lelaki ditahan bantu siasatan kematian pemuda Orang Asli
Suspek berusia 38 tahun itu telah memandu kenderaan dan membawa mangsa yang didakwa terkena peluru sesat ke Balai Polis Sungai Koyan.
Tourism Johor akan dikorporatkan tahun ini - Onn Hafiz
Kerajaan negeri akan mengkorporatkan Tourism Johor pada tahun ini dalam usaha untuk memperkasakan agensi berkenaan, kata Menteri Besar Johor Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi.
Skuad Piala Uber Malaysia pulang awal
Kemenangan tersebut menyaksikan Thailand melangkah ke suku akhir selepas mengalahkan Australia dengan keputusan sama.
Mesyuarat Khas WEF: Seruan adaptasi teknologi untuk PKS harus guna bahasa mudah
Syarikat besar mempunyai kelebihan kepakaran dan sumber yang boleh digunakan untuk membantu PKS turut sama menyertai adaptasi teknologi.
Anwar bertemu PM Pakistan dan Menteri Luar Turkiye
Kedua-dua pemimpin menyatakan komitmen untuk terus memperkukuh hubungan Putrajaya-Islamabad dan melonjakkan lagi perdagangan dua hala.
Patuhi standard pelancongan ASEAN, tarik lebih ramai pelancong - Tiong
Tiong berkata ada kecenderungan pelancong asing tidak menggunakan perkhidmatan ejen pelancongan berdaftar disebabkan kualiti yang lemah.
Nur Shazrin mungkin 'lupakan' Paris 2024
Beliau mungkin tidak akan bersama kontinjen negara sekiranya tiada 'lampu hijau' berikutan tiga jarinya tidak dapat digunakan dengan baik.