SEREMBAN – The Fire and Rescue Department today gave the assurance that it has enough personnel to handle the current flood disaster, particularly in the east coast states.
Its director-general Datuk Seri Mohammad Hamdan Wahid said the department had deployed 18,053 personnel nationwide, including volunteer and auxiliary personnel, in view of the rainy season.
He also said that the department would seek the assistance of personnel and assets from neighbouring states if the need arises.
“We have been ready since November in view of reports on the monsoon, cases of water surge and landslides. All personnel have undergone various types of training and quick-response situations. Their leave has been frozen,” he said.
The resources, logistics, assets at the Fire and Rescue Academy (Eastern Region) had been deployed whereas the personnel had been divided into two batches for Kelantan and Terengganu, he told reporters after a working visit to the Negri Sembilan Fire and Rescue Department, here.
“Looking at the rain, we believe more people have to be evacuated from flooded homes,” he said.
According to a National Disaster Management Agency report, as of 1pm today, over 72,000 people had been evacuated due to floods in five states – 40,453 in Terengganu, 31,316 in Kelantan, 221 in Pahang, 54 in Perak and 48 in Johor.
Hamdan said the department had stationed its aircraft at the forward bases in Wakaf Tapai in Terengganu and Bachok in Kelantan to facilitate quick response. It has five aircraft, four of them based in Peninsular Malaysia and one for Sabah and Sarawak.
He also said that fine weather earlier in the day made it easier for the search-and-rescue team to look for the seven people still missing following the landslide at the Father’s Organic Farm on the Batang Kali-Genting Highlands road near Gohtong Jaya last Friday which claimed 26 lives. – Bernama, December 21, 2022
