Acceptance and Adequacy of Water Supply Among Flood Victims at the Temporary Evacuation Centres in Kuala Krai, Kelantan, Malaysia

Abstract

This article discusses the analysis of water supply acceptance and adequacy among flood victims at the Kuala Krai Temporary Evacuation Centres (TECs) in Kelantan, Malaysia. This study applied a quantitative approach using questionnaire. A total of 300 flood victims were randomly selected. The aspects being measured were the types of water resource acceptance as well as the adequacy of water supply according to four main types of domestic activities at the TECs, namely drinking, cooking, bathing and washing. The analysis used was descriptive analysis, a cross-tabulation test to assess the relation of water supply adequacy to respondents' profile and the selected TECs. The findings showed that the bottled/mineral water acceptance by the flood victims was insufficient for drinking and cooking purposes, while the acceptance of rainwater as a water supply for bathing and washing was sufficient. The findings also show that the water supply was insufficient for drinking (84.96%), cooking (85.84%), bathing (61.06%) and washing (53.10%) for female compared to male. Similarly with the married respondents who claimed that water supply was inadequate for all types of domestic activities such as for drinking (74.29%), cooking (66.29%), bathing (53.71%) and washing (50.29%), compared to the unmarried and widowed. Based on TECs, more attention should be given to the water supply at SMK Laloh and SK Kuala Gris as the majority of respondents (>52.17%) stated that the water supply was insufficient for carrying out all domestic activities, compared to SMK Sultan Yahya Petra 2 and SMK Manek Urai Lama. Therefore, water supply management during flood disasters is urgently needed to deal with insufficient water supply issues by increasing the efficiency of water supply distribution so that the Kuala Krai flood victims can get sufficient water supplies at the TECs despite being hit by major floods.