Sabah Floods Branded Man Made Disaster Of Systemic Negligence

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The floods and landslides that tore through Sabah recently have left behind devastation and grief, a tragedy that many say was as predictable as it was preventable.
With 14 lives lost and hundreds of families displaced, the state is once again confronted with the grim reminder that it lacks a permanent system to deal with recurring disasters, exposing years of neglect.
Floods, landslides, and storms have become an annual ordeal, especially along Sabah’s west coast and interior districts. For many, the fear is no longer just of the rain itself, but of how quickly they are abandoned once waters rise and slopes give way.
Neil Stephen, 47, a businessperson from Penampang, said what terrifies people most is the wasted hours when help never arrives.
“We cannot control the weather, but we can control rescue and recovery. That’s what must improve,” he told Malaysiakini.
He hopes Sabah will establish a permanent disaster response unit that is constantly on standby, with excavators, trained operators, and the technology to deliver aid into cut-off areas.
Just as importantly, Stephen said, volunteers should be properly trained so they can assist rescue teams without endangering themselves.
He argued that drones and live mapping should already be part of the state’s toolkit, not only to capture images after the fact but also to deliver food, medicine, and real-time warnings to villages suddenly cut off by floodwaters.
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Another Penampang resident, 39-year-old Daniel Joseph, described the dread that sets in the moment rain refuses to stop.
“When it goes on for six or seven hours, people panic. We feel trapped, not knowing if the roads are blocked, if we can reach safety, or if we can get supplies,” he said.
He added that most people now rely on Facebook and WhatsApp groups to check road closures, rather than official channels.
“If I want to drive out, I have to ask people: Is this road safe? Is that bridge gone? The government should be telling us, not the other way around,” he said.
For Joseph, a centralised flood map - like a navigation app updating in real time - is long overdue.
“Instead, disaster committees just post statements. That’s not enough. Every wrong turn could cost a life,” he added.
For Alot Henry, 49, a lecturer from Penampang, this rainy season marked a breaking point.
“Every rainy season, it’s the same story: roads flooded, families stranded, schools closed. But this time, something broke inside me.
“Lives were lost. Not just homes, not just cars - actual human lives. It could have been any of us,” she said.
Henry’s frustration was aimed at what she called “patchwork responses” that leave communities cleaning up mud year after year.
“We cannot just sweep mud and wait for donations every single year. We need to prepare, not just react,” she said.
Unregulated quarrying, hill clearing
Henry believes Sabah should already have a flood reporting app, similar to Waze or Google Maps for disasters, where residents can share real-time updates and get alerts before the worst hits.
Unchecked quarrying and hill clearing around Penampang, she added, have only worsened floods.
“It’s no secret, just look at the hills on Google Maps, botak (laid bare) already.”
She also argued that local institutions such as churches, mosques, and temples should be trained to act as first responders, with supplies on standby for their communities.
Villages, too, should have their own “flood wardens”: trusted locals equipped with radios and modest budgets to coordinate when disaster strikes.
For Henry, the common thread is the need for one reliable information hub. People, she said, are exhausted from bouncing between WhatsApp groups and Facebook posts, unsure which updates to believe.
“These are not miracles but systems that should already exist. This isn’t just about floodwater. It’s about the lives we’ve lost, and the lives we could still save if we act now.
“We need a Sabah disaster task force, powered by real tech, real people, and real urgency,” she said.
To underscore the lack of a timely response, after a landslide in Kg Sarapung, Penampang, buried a semi-permanent house, firefighters were forced to walk three kilometres after floodwaters cut off access. An excavator was requested but never arrived, leaving them to dig with shovels.
The body of a 97-year-old man was eventually recovered. Sabah’s first casualty of the week. His remains had to be carried by hand through mud for nearly a kilometre.
Days later, tragedy struck in Papar, where a man was filmed pleading desperately for machinery to save his wife and 11-year-old son after their home was buried.
“I will pay anything. Please get an excavator and rescue my wife and son,” he cried in a video that went viral. Hours later, both were found dead.
In Kg Cenderakasih near Kota Kinabalu, 11 members of a family were buried in another landslide.
A total of 2,533 people from 668 families across 96 villages remain affected, with numbers mostly unchanged in Beaufort, Tawau, Membakut, and Putatan, declining in Penampang, but rising in Papar.
These back-to-back disasters have fuelled anger that lives are still being lost because equipment and support cannot be deployed quickly enough.
There was a plan, but it collapsed
Former ministerial aide Anuar Ghani recalled a RM17 billion Chinese-backed investment, structured to finance flood mitigation across 12 districts.
The plan, he said, collapsed under political resistance and bureaucratic hurdles.
“We had investors willing to pump in RM17 billion for flood mitigation. Work could have started by now. Instead, people must wait for allocations under the Malaysia Plans,” Anuar told Malaysiakini.
In a statement, former chief minister Yong Teck Lee said the Sabah Water Resources Master Plan of 1994 had already outlined what needed to be done, but much of it was shelved.
“The solutions exist and the government must plan decisively and build the long overdue facilities,” he added.
Temporary actions, until the next disaster
For 42-year-old Alice Han from Luyang, the problem goes beyond sentimentality over ancestral or private lands.
“It’s insane to go through it yearly and allow it to happen. Yes, I agree on ancestral lands and sentimentals, but be practical and realistic.
“No point having the land if you don’t have money to upgrade it or work it,” she said.
Han added that the state itself has fallen into the same reactive posture.
“The government is reactive. Every time there is a flood or a landslide, committees are formed and statements are made. But once the water recedes, everything is forgotten until the next disaster.”
Psychologist Carrie Grace Jaymess warned that the damage extends beyond collapsed homes and broken roads.
“Landslides and floods don’t just take lives; they leave survivors with deep trauma. Families need not just physical aid but emotional support and counselling.”
For Adrian Lee, 32, a construction material supplier, Sabah’s endless floods are no longer just acts of nature but the product of structural neglect.
“Every year, we see the same pattern. Towns go underwater, families are displaced, infrastructure collapses, and only then does the government respond. Why must the government wait until disaster strikes before taking action?
“These are not mysteries. Our drains remain clogged because maintenance is neglected. Our rivers overflow because they are poorly managed. Our towns drown because development is allowed without responsibility,” Lee added.
He pointed to Singapore, which cut flood-prone zones by 97 percent through strict maintenance; China’s “Sponge Cities” that absorb rainfall; and the Netherlands, which reduced flood peaks by giving rivers more room.
Yet in Sabah, Lee argued, promises are broken and plans quietly shelved until the next disaster. - Mkini

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