How Far can Aids Improve the Socio-Economic Well-Being of Flood Victims in Kelantan?

Abstract

The life of an individual or a community involved in a disaster must be restored socially as well as economically the same level as before. However, the devastating impact of the disaster such as the great flood of 2014 has made it impossible to regain exactly the same socio economic well-being. In Kelantan particularly, many aids have been handed out by many organizations both public and private agencies in order to help the community gain its normal life. Thus, the purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the aids provided. The changes in their satisfaction for the way they live would reflect the effectiveness of the aids provided. A survey has been implemented in the selected villages; namely, Kg Pahi and Kg Tualang in Kuala Krai. 150 respondents were interviewed. The Rasch analysis was employed to analyze the level of effectiveness. The findings showed that all aids were moderately effective as the victims’ quality of life has moderately improved. Some aids were needed more than the others. Therefore, the Malaysian government with the collaborative effort of the NGOs need to provide aids that could give long term effect. For that reason, an unbrella business concept which requires cooperative effort of each family in the village to manage various small businesses can be introduced.

DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2016.v7n4p330