Flood operations: More than 12,000 GOF personnel on standby - Bukit Aman

KUANTAN: More than 12,000 General Operations Force (GOF) personnel are on standby to assist flood operations in the worst affected states in the country, according to Bukit Aman Department of Internal Security and Public Order (JKDNKA) director Datuk Seri Abd Rahim Jaafar.

He said GOF personnel would be mobilised in stages according to the flood situation.

"Besides that, members of the Marine Police, Air Unit, and Federal Reserve Unit have also been told to be prepared.

"We will mobilise all the teams at any time, and they are currently stationed at their respective state contingents such as Pahang, Kelantan and Johor," he told Bernama in conjunction with his working visit to Camp Galing, GOF Southeast Brigade and the Kuantan District Police headquarters here.

Apart from that, Abd Rahim said the police had mobilised assets such as boats and lorries to survey the flood-affected areas.

Asked to comment on the current flood situation in Pahang, Abd Rahim said all nine districts in the state were affected, with the exception of Cameron Highlands.

“I was briefed by Pahang Police chief (Datuk Seri Abd Jalil Hassan) and Kuantan District Police chief (ACP Mohamad Noor Yusof Ali) that as of this morning about 26,000 flood victims have been placed at temporary relief centres in Pahang.

"This means that flood victims in Pahang will continue to increase from time to time, and the Pahang police are actively evacuating flood victims to be placed at relief centres, besides ensuring that they comply with the COVID-19 standard operating procedures," he said.

Commenting further, he said JKDNKA was the department responsible for the flood operation, which among others, oversees the evacuation of flood victims to a safe place, and preventing theft of property belonging to flood victims while they are away.

“JKDNKA's job is to ensure that there is no loss of property or loss of life involving flood victims during this period.

"Therefore, I have instructed the Pahang Police chief to close down all severely flooded areas and prohibit any vehicle from traversing in deeply flooded areas to avoid any untoward incidents," he said.

Meanwhile, Abd Rahim said he was satisfied with the Pahang police contingent's handling of the flood operations.

"At the same time, this can increase confidence among the community facing this catastrophic disaster, that the police can handle floods situation in a controlled and smooth manner," he said.

-- BERNAMA