More frequent weather reports to be aired to better prepare for floods

KUALA LUMPUR: The Communications and Multimedia Ministry will increase the frequency of weather forecast announcements to enable the public to be better prepared for floods.

Minister Datuk Seri Dr Salleh Said Keruak said the ministry in collaboration with the Meteorological Department would make the announcements via their platforms as well as mainstream ones and social media.

“We may have to increase the frequency of the announcements because the weather has become unpredictable.

“In the past, we knew when the floods will occur, but now they can happen at any time,” he said to reporters after launching a book, entitled New Media Political Engagement and Participation at Parliament House.

Salleh also said the ministry was asked to identify and take the appropriate measures in the event of communications disruptions in flood- hit areas in Penang and Kedah.

However the ministry, he said, did not receive any complaints about such disruptions.

Salleh added the book by Dr Saraswathy Chinnasamy received international attention after being launched in Britain and the United States on Oct 6.

Saraswathy, who is a Fellow of the Institute of Journalism Studies, Faculty of Communications and Media Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), said the book was about the direction of mainstream and social media in Malaysia.

She added the book, which sells for RM560 received good reviews abroad, especially from among academics, as there was a shortage of reference material on current issues and politics in Malaysia. — Bernama