MARANG: All Fire and Rescue Department officers and personnel in five states will have their leave frozen in late November and mid-December to ensure preparedness for critical flood situations.
Its director-general Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said this directive, affecting approximately 6,000 staff members, applies to Terengganu, Kelantan, Pahang, Johor, and Sarawak.
He said all state directors involved have been briefed and instructed to enforce the leave freeze order in response to warnings from the Malaysian Meteorological Department about six episodes of heavy rain and high tides expected during two phases: from Nov 27 till Nov 28 and from Dec 15 till Dec 17.
“So far, we have not frozen leave, just limited it. Only 20% of all members and officers are allowed to take leave.
“But we instructed the state directors involved last week to be ready to issue a holiday freeze order if there are floods beyond their capacity and a series of red-level heavy rains,” he said, Bernama reported.
Nor Hisham said that in preparation, his team had activated forward operating bases at two locations: the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Academy (Eastern Region) in Wakaf Tapai, and the Ayer Hitam Fire and Rescue Station in Johor.
In the meantime, he said 22 Rapid Action Teams have been formed throughout the country.
They are equipped with various assets to enable them to move to help stations near flood disaster locations.
