Heavy rains in several areas in Malaysia recently have caused major flood in several areas in the East Coast states, Johor, Sabah and Sarawak. As part of its efforts to help employees and community members affected by the disaster, Telekom Malaysia Berhad (TM) mobilised its volunteer group, TM Reaching Out Volunteers (TM ROVers), particularly to Maran, Kuala Lipis, Temerloh and Jerantut, Pahang to lend its helping hand.
TM also pledged RM500,000 through the GLC/GLIC Disaster Response Network (GDRN) to provide immediate relief assistance to affected communities and towards the recovery phase. This fund will be channelled to Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) identified by GDRN which will then be used to assist the flood victims.
In the relief mission to Pahang, TM represented GDRN, where the company is the joint chair with Yayasan Hasanah.
During the three (3) days mission, TM ROVers together with Pertubuhan Gabungan Bantuan Bencana NGO Malaysia (BBNGO), distributed a total of 100 food packs and 100 set of comfort items to the affected communities. The effort benefitted 100 families and more than 500 individuals at Kampung Chantin, Kampung Paya Sok and Lurah Semantan in Temerloh, Kampung Lentang, Kampung Siva, Kuarters Polis Kuala Lipis and Taman Fah Choon in Kuala Lipis as well as Kampung Paya Chedong in Maran.
Imri Mokhtar, Group Chief Executive Officer, TM, said: “Our hearts go out to all those affected in these trying times; made even more challenging in the midst of this pandemic. We, at TM are of course ready to play our part to help and assist where we can. This relief mission as part of our Corporate Responsibility (CR) is to help ease the burden of affected TM customers and employees. We hope and pray that they can get back on their feet quickly and return stronger.”
Together with the Fire and Rescue Department and Polis DiRaja Malaysia (PDRM) teams, TM ROVers had to wade through Sungai Pahang to reach out to the flood victims at Pusat Pemindahan Sementara at Kampung Serengkam, Maran, as the victims were cut off from land roads and could only be reached with boats via the river.
The team also handed over two (2) set of pressure water jets to TM Pahang for cleaning activities of flood affected houses and 3,550 pieces of 3-Ply face mask to the Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) and Kuala Lipis District Police Headquarters.
Meanwhile, in proactive steps to salvage its equipment that was submerged in the flood, TM through TM Pahang deployed its team which consisted of staff from Network Maintenance and Operations (NMO) division and members of Pakar Semboyan TM (PAKAR) to Taman Mentakab Indah and Kampung Batu Kapur in Mentakab as well as Taman Sri Chendong and Taman Sri Keramat in Maran. As soon as the flood in those locations subsided, the team said it worked tirelessly to restore the telecommunication services in the areas.
TM Pahang further lent a helping hand to the victims in Taman Cheneras Indah, Kuala Lipis by providing food supplies to the community members who have had no access to supplies due to the flood. TM Pahang volunteers also rolled up their sleeves to clean up the affected houses of fellow TM staff in Temerloh and Mentakab, Pahang.