SEREMBAN, Dec 21 — 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 has deployed 18,053 personnel nationwide in view of the rainy season, and they include volunteer and auxiliary personnel.
He also said the department would seek the assistance of personnel from neighbouring states, along with assets, if any state required more personnel and assets.
“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,” Mohammad Hamdan said.
The resources and logistics as well as assets at the Fire & Rescue Academy (Eastern Region) had been deployed and the personnel had been divided into two batches, for Kelantan and Terengganu, he told reporters after a working visit to the Negeri Sembilan Fire and Rescue Department, here.
“Looking at the rain, we believe more people have to be evacuated from flooded homes,” Mohammad Hamdan said.
According to a report of the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), as of 1 pm 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.
The director-general said the department has stationed its aircraft at the forward bases in Wakaf Tapai in Terengganu and Bachok in Kelantan to facilitate a quick response. It has five aircraft, four of them based in Peninsular Malaysia and one for Sabah and Sarawak.
He added 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
