Paper on disaster management improvement to be tabled in Cabinet - Abd Latiff

PUTRAJAYA: A proposal paper on flood response and disaster management improvements will be tabled at the first 2022 Cabinet meeting on Jan 12.

Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Special Duties) Datuk Dr Abd Latiff Ahmad said a discussion with seven academicians from local universities was held virtually this morning, whereby the experts in the field of risk management and new hazards shared their views on the flood management.

The lecturers also presented their studies on bad weather situations that may cause unpredictable weather disasters.

"The academicians are also of the view that such weather (uncertain) will cause disasters in unexpected areas," he said in a press conference here today.

Following Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob's announcement that the government has agreed to set up a special task force for post-flood activities and in preparation for the second wave of floods, Abd Latif said the relevant authorities will increase their preparedness level for any operations involving natural disasters.

He said currently, some 40,813 personnel from various responding agencies were involved in flood operations nationwide, involving 3,419 combined assets, respectively.

Commenting on the yellow alert of continuous rain issued by the Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) yesterday, Abd Latiff advised residents in Sabah, Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and Johor to always follow the weather developments issued by MetMalaysia only.

"There are various information available on social media about weather forecasts and disaster warnings, but it can cause panic among the people. So refer to MetMalaysia to get an accurate report," he stressed.

Yesterday, MetMalaysia issued a yellow alert for continuous rain forecast for the states following the current monsoon surge, which is expected to continue until January 3 next year.

-- BERNAMA