Prepare early for floods, says PM

PETALING JAYA: The coming northeast monsoon season is expected to lash six states with heavy rains, and the government is making early preparations to prevent any major problem.

Disaster management committees at the district level have been instructed to be immediately activated, while RM8mil has been allocated to 160 districts for operations.

The government has also allocated RM4.8mil to provide 320 fibreglass boats for the various districts, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

Meanwhile, 6,010 temporary relief centres (PPS) nationwide - which can house 1,620,855 flood victims - were being readied by the Welfare Department.

The Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) has forecast that the northeast monsoon will hit six states from November this year to March next year.

Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang are expected to experience heavy rains from November to December while Johor, Sabah and Sarawak are expected to face the same from December to January.

“District disaster management committees (JPBD), chaired by the district officer, are to be immediately activated.

“The JPBD has an important function to carry out rescue work and aid delivery at disaster locations while the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) and the state disaster management committees (JPBN) will coordinate at central and state levels respectively,” said Ismail Sabri in a statement yesterday.

Earlier, he chaired the central disaster management committee meeting which was attended by the Chief Secretary to the Government, Chief Ministers and Mentris Besar, the Public Service director-general, state government secretaries as well as government agencies.

He also said the government has allocated RM2.59mil to upgrade basic facilities such as bathrooms and toilets in all PPS.

The Education Ministry has also been told to open school dormitories which are not occupied to the public, especially the elderly, children and women.

Within the first 24 hours of any disaster, the Welfare Department must provide food, as well as the needs of babies and the elderly, such as disposable diapers, at the PPS, he added.

Meanwhile, Nadma has distributed 59,350 food kits and 127,272 cubicle tents to the PPS, he said.

“The state and district level disaster management committees need to prepare in advance to ensure that aid supplies reach all locations early, before roads are cut off and so on during the actual disaster,” said Ismail Sabri.

He added that a total of 79,549 officers, security agency members and rescuers at all levels were on full standby.

“The government has also mobilised 22,622 water assets such as boats, boat trailers and jet skis from all agencies nationwide,” he said.

The meeting also agreed that the disaster early warning sound would be different from other sirens such as ambulances and police patrol cars to avoid confusion, he said.

Ismail Sabri added that the state and district disaster management committees must ensure that the early warning systems were working well.

“Those living in low-lying areas are asked to always be aware of disaster early warnings and evacuate immediately if instructed by the authorities,” he said.

To improve the preparedness, Ismail Sabri said 155 community-based disaster risk management programmes involving 12,534 participants had been held.