12,000 firemen ready for monsoon season

Over 600 boats and 300 lorries on standby to help

PETALING JAYA: More than 12,000 firemen will be deployed nationwide and some 600 boats and 300 lorries are on standby in case of deluge brought in by the northeast monsoon hitting Malaysia today.

The National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) will be holding a meeting today with all relevant ministries and agencies.

“We need to coordinate the preparations of all the relevant government agencies before making any further announcement,” said Nadma directorgeneral Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun.

Heavy rains are expected in Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang and Johor until next month.

Similarly, the Malaysian Meteorological Department has forecast heavy rains in west Sarawak, north and east Sabah in December and January.

Fire and Rescue Department directorgeneral Datuk Seri Wan Mohd Nor Ibrahim said more than 12,000 personnel are on standby around the country should there be floods or landslides.

“If it reachers a critical point or situation, we will deploy our personnel accordingly and they will be working around the clock to assist victims,” he said.

The department has more than 600 boats and 300 lorries as well as fourwheel drive vehicles ready.

“We also have generators in case of blackouts,” said Wan Mohd Nor.

As part of standard operating procedure, the Fire and Rescue Department started making the necessary preparation for flood relief on Nov 1, he said.

Malaysia Civil Defence Force (APM) chief commissioner MajGen Datuk Azmy Yahya said it could deploy 15,000 personnel within the first three hours of an emergency in any state.

“We have 1,000 staff from each state who are always on standby. If a big incident happens in Kelantan, we can mobilise all our staff from the nearby states,” he said.

He said APM had no problem sharing the assets of other agencies.

Bernama also reported police Director of Internal Security and Public Order Department Datuk Seri Zulkifli Abdullah as saying that more than 1,000 policemen along with various assets could be mobilised within half an hour to any area for disaster relief mission.

We need to coordinate the preparations of all the relevant government agencies before making any further announcement.

Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun

Making a stand: Residents of Taman Seri Setia in Tanjung Bungah protesting after their flats were hit by over 1.5m of water during the Nov 5 downpour.