Rozabil helps solve the plight of 100 farmers in Arau
SITI NURAZLINA JAMALUDIN
ARAU - The cries of around 100 paddy farmers about the drainage issues causing the water to accumulate in paddy fields gained the attention of Arau Parliament Barisan Nasional (BN) candidate Datuk Rozabil Abdul Rahman.
The farmers in Kampung Bakong were forced to bear losses of around RM196,000 after the seeds planted in an area as wide as 201.44 hectares was destroyed when it was flooded.
A farmer Suhaimi Saleh, 44, said their crops were affected after the bypass road construction project started in March.
"After the project began, our paddy crops were frequently affected if the rains continued for over an hour, causing the Gial River to overflow.
"For this year alone, more than five times the farmers were forced to replant when the rain overflowed onto the plant compartments," he told reporters here on Monday.
Rozabil, who went to the ground to check on the issue said he had contacted the state Public Works Department (JKR) and the Irrigation and Drainage Department (JPS) to solve the problems.
"Farmers in the C1 Mada (Youth Agricultural Development Board) had encouraged me to look into the water issue that was not flowing out of the square (paddy field). They had replanted the paddy four to five times without any results.
"I have contacted JKR to aid in solving this issue. The cause of this accumulation was due to the waterway out of the paddy field being small when the bypass project was done in the area," he said.
Rozabil said the state JKR agreed to widen the culvert in Gial River to enable water to flow out of the paddy fields smoother.
"State JKR had agreed to the farmer's requests to widen the culvert for the water to flow faster and solve the water accumulation issue.
"Following the state JKR Director's words, the problem would be solved before tomorrow. I would like to thank JKR for solving this issue immediately.
"That is my dream to have any issues faced by farmers to be solved immediately. That is also the BN Arau Parliament’s motto," he said.
