Perlis Fire and Rescue Dept all prepared to face North East Monsoon - Director

KANGAR, Oct 7 (Bernama) -- The Perlis Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM) is prepared to face possible floods during the North East Monsoon season beginning this month, says its director, Senior Fire Superintendent I, Ruhisha Haris.

He said the department has been making preparations since April to ensure that all personnel and rescue assets were ready.

“In preparation for possible floods, we have tested our rescue assets such as boats, diving equipment and such at the Timah Tasoh lake, flood tunnels and Kampung Wai,” he told reporters after attending the launch of Water Activities Safety Council (MKAA) and Life-Saving Appliances (LiSA) at the Bukit Ayer Recreation Centre here today.

State Housing and Local Government Committee chairman Azizan Sulaiman officiated at the event.

Ruhisha said the training and preparation were to ensure that the Perlis JBPM  was ready in terms of logistics, additional equipment and personnel strength.

He said Perlis JBPM had identified 54 high-risk areas for floods in the state, which included Wang Bintong, Kampung Wang Besar, Kampung Abi, Taman Semarak, Bukit Kubu, Kampung Nelayan, Kampung Panggas, Kubang Tiga, Mata Ayer and Ulu Pauh.

“We will conduct scheduled monitoring in the 54 'hotspot' areas for early preparations," he said.

Ruhisha added that in the event of a flood in the state, JBPM Perlis was ready to deploy 400 personnel including 14 reserve firefighters from the Simpang Empat JBPM and 200 volunteers.

In terms of logistics, he said the state JBPM had nine rescue boats, five lorries, eight utility units and more than 200 safety jackets.

-- BERNAMA