103,500 Personnel, Over 34,000 Assets Ready For MTL

PUCHONG, Oct 30 (Bernama) -- A total of 103,500 personnel and more than 34,000 assets have been prepared to face the Northeast Monsoon (MTL) which is expected to start on Nov 6 until March 26, 2026, said National Disaster Management Agency (NADMA) director-general Datuk Abdul Halim Hamzah.

He said the personnel included 20,600 members of the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the Malaysian Fire and Rescue Department (JBPM) (15,640 people) and the Malaysian Civil Defence Force (15,390 people).

“A total of 3,683 locations have been identified as flood hotspots, with 2,987 of them in Peninsular Malaysia covering 91 districts.

“Pahang, Kelantan, Sabah and Terengganu have been identified as states with flood hotspots,” he said during a presentation at the Joint Media Engagement Session: Government Preparedness to Face the 2025/2026 MTL here today.

Regarding the expected roads that may be affected by the MTL, he said all the roads in several states have been identified by the district Public Works Department and precautionary measures have been implemented to ensure a high level of preparedness.

His presentation also covered disaster-risk areas such as possible landslide sites and the distribution of Bailey bridges to be placed in urgent areas.

Regarding temporary evacuation centres (PPS), he said 8,940 PPS nationwide, which can accommodate a capacity of more than two million disaster victims, will be available by the MTL.

“59 per cent of them are schools followed by public halls (20 per cent), community halls (10 per cent) and mosques and suraus at four and three per cent respectively,” he said.

For the distribution of food kits (KM), he said 60,000 KM and 110,000 retort meals (MRE) have been allocated throughout the MTL season, while 23,600 KM and 20,570 MRE will be mobilised first to all states during the first phase of the disaster.

At a press conference after the engagement session, he said the government had implemented two major improvements in terms of operations and coordination between agencies to deal with MTL.

He said that among them was the re-establishment of the Standing Operating Guidelines (PTO) in addition to the distribution of assistance to disaster victims that would be carried out more quickly and effectively.

“Starting this year, the government has agreed that the distribution of charitable funds can be implemented more quickly through the MyIBJKM application in collaboration with Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN). With this new system, the distribution of aid can be completed within just one week,”

The engagement session was also attended by representatives from PDRM, JBPM, the Social Welfare Department (JKM) and the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia).

Meanwhile, the principal assistant director (Crisis and Disaster) of the Operations Division of the Internal Security and Public Order Department of PDRM SAC Pahruradzi Abd Rahman said that the coordination of the press conference in the MTL area would be more systematic and held within two hours of the incident to ensure that information reaches the public accurately.

“The top leadership has authorised the disaster operations commander (PDRM) to hold a press conference as soon as possible, within less than two hours based on the situation and circumstances of the disaster,” he said.

Pahruradzi also advised the public not to spread false news regarding the incident or any disaster to maintain public order during the MTL.

-- BERNAMA