Jeffrey Ng
KOTA KINABALU: The Institution of Engineers, Malaysia (IEM) Sabah branch has offered to provide engineering technical advice to the government to mitigate controllable disasters.
Its chairman, Jeffrey Ng, said he and his executive committee members are ready to provide technical advices to the government.
Ng said Sabah is approaching the transition period of the monsoon season.
He said the weather of hot and humid will soon give way to the cold and wet.
“As of late August of this year, already a bombardment of torrential rain was felt in many districts.
“According to the Meteorological Department, more thunderstorms and heavy rain are to be expected.”
Ng warned that rainwater in large quantity could cause massive natural disasters.
“Already seen such cases in other countries and in Malaysia itself, the state of Sabah is of no exception to such disasters.
“Flood, slope failure and unstable soil are some of the common disasters which can be mitigated by applying engineering technical know-how.”
He said climate change has influenced several of the water-related variables that contribute to floods due to heavy rainfall predominantly due to heavier precipitation.
He said this scenario is happening in a global scale which is shown by the many flood occurrences as of late in many regions including China, Europe and the Americas.
Ng said IEM is an organization comprising of professional and learned engineers.
“With a member strength of 2,000 in Sabah itself, the branch is an avenue to gain professional engineering technical advice.”
Ng said he and his executive committee members are ready to provide technical advices to the government.
Packed with years of experience under his belt, he trusts the professional support by members of IEM is no less when compared to himself.
He stressed that controllable disasters should be mitigated as soon as possible to ensure the continuous livelihood of the people and society.
“The chain effect from such disasters would not only cause the destruction of road connectivity, disconnection of basic utilities and loss of property, it can also cause the loss of crops and lives.
“Hence, IEM is prepared to assist the Sabah government and revive the State to its usual self, better yet to prosper ahead.”