malaysiangMELAKA, Jan 6 — Residents of the Malay heritage village, Kampung Morten, here, especially the food traders regret the viraling of photographs of the flood situation there last Saturday, making the village look like an island.
Kampung Morten Development and Security Committee (JPKK) chairman, Jalina Mahmood said this was an irresponsible action as the photos were taken from a nearby high-rise building which did not give a true picture of the flood situation in the village.
She said its had not only upset the villagers but could also adversely affect the tourism sector at this iconic area, especially the small food traders.
“The photos do not show what actually happened in Kampung Morten at the end of last week (Jan 1) as not all the houses here were flooded but only at a small section of this village as it is located on a lower ground than the other houses.
“Moreover, floods are not unusual occurrences in Kampung Morten as it is located next to Melaka River, which frequently overflowed to this village during high tide or a long period of heavy rain,” she said, here, today.
Jalina said the frequent flooding at the village were not serious with only a few houses inundated and the flood waters receded fast.
She added that following the viraled photos, many of the traders lost their source of income as the tourists and visitors did not enter the village, especially that Sunday and there were still less visitors until today.
Food trader, Amnah Othman, 64, said her business had been affected since although on Saturday, despite the heavy rain, it still received many visitors, just to walk around or eat and there are also the homestay for accommodation but after the photos were viraled, no visitors dared to enter this village.
“Business was really bad last Sunday and until today it still less compared to before the photos were viraled. Usually, there had been a string of cars entering this village,” she added
Sharing his feelings of disappointment and sadness, Sofian Jaafar, 35, said his family’s five-year-old food business had also been affected by the deceiving photos.
Born in the village, he said people felt unsafe to enter the village while the situation was unlike that pictured.
“Perhaps, some people believe that Kampung Morten is like an island now but I am appealing to them, especially the outsiders not to spread the inaccurate news as this has adversely affected our business.
A resident, Salim Abu, 65, said the flood that occurred had only affected a row of houses in Lorong Tun Mamat 1 due to its proximity to the river, as well as some houses along another lane.
“The photos taken from above do not show the whole village area but only focusing on the location along the river. My house is also at Lorong Tun Mamat 1 but it was not flooded.
“So, please stop this action (viraling of the photos) as it can cause losses to many people,” he said.
Bernama had previously reported that the director of the Melaka Department of Irrigation and Drainage, Abd Hakim Hamzah saying that the flood that occurred in Kampung Morten on Jan 1 was due to the high tide phenomenon and overflowing of Sungai Melaka after continuous rain over a few days.
Source: BERNAMA News Agency
