KLANG, Sept 13 — The Klang District Disaster Management Committee (JPBD) has established special teams at the community level to facilitate coordination in the event of a disaster.
Klang district officer Shahman Jalaludin said the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) members will be given training and basic skills related to disaster management by several government agencies.
He said the agencies include the Social Welfare Department, the Fire and Rescue Department, the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (APM) and the police.
“The establishment of this special team or CERT is a proactive measure after taking lessons from the flood incident that hit this district in December last year,” he said at a press conference at Pengkalan Tok Muda bund, Kapar here yesterday.
Earlier, he along with Klang Drainage and Irrigation Department (DID) engineer Ir Ahmad Fauzan Mohd Sabri visited several bunds, which are at risk of being damaged by floods in the district.
Shahman, who is also the chairman of the Klang District Disaster Committee, informed that they will also organise community-based workshops on disaster risk management in several areas of the district.
He said the first workshop is scheduled for September 18 at Taman Sri Muda, Section 25, Shah Alam followed by Pulau Ketam, Port Klang on September 24 and 25.
“The workshop involves collaboration with the State Disaster Management Unit, APM, Mercy Malaysia and Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), for residents in high-risk areas (floods prone areas).
“Among its aims is to train the local community in identifying and managing local disasters,” he said.
The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) predicted that Selangor will face a shift from a southwest monsoon to the northeast monsoon that will result in a rainfall rate of between 100 and 400 millimetres (mm) from the middle of this month until December.
During the same period, the high tide phenomenon is also expected to occur in coastal areas along Port Klang with the highest sea level expected to reach 5.5 metres.
The situation may result in seawater overflowing into the residential areas in addition to the risk of flooding if there is heavy rain.
