By Siti Rohaizah Zainal
SHAH ALAM, Sept 28 – A total of 67 agencies involving 343 participants have taken part in the two-day Selangor state disaster simulation programme at Dewan Jubli Perak at the Selangor State Secretariat Building, here today.
State division secretary (Management Services) Muhamad Shah Osmin said the initiative aims to ensure that the agencies involved are well-prepared in terms of resources, equipment, and assets to deal with disasters.
“The state government hopes that in the event of a disaster, we are prepared and equipped with the necessary resources and assets to manage it.
“Therefore, the session focuses on communication management as past research and studies had found that this was an important element in managing any disaster,” he said during a press conference today.
Meanwhile, Muhamad Shah said that the preparations for this year were carried out earlier to properly equip everyone both at the state and district levels and to also include village heads or residential representatives.
He said the move was to make it easier for them to carry out the tasks.
“Disaster management should not only be carried out by the agencies.
“Residential representatives and the victims also have a role to play to ensure that any flood incidents are dealt with appropriately,” he said.
Muhamad Shah said that 164 boats have also been prepared and stationed at all districts to handle the flood disaster.
“The boats do not include other assets such as trucks and four-wheel drives,” he added.
On September 22, Menteri Besar Dato’ Seri Amirudin Shari said that the flood simulation training programme would expose the respective agencies in mobilising search and rescue operations, the opening of operations rooms, and assistance services.
He said this was to improve the state’s response to disasters and prevent a repeated incident as seen during the floods in December last year.
