Ministry To Assist Flood-affected Staff, Media Practitioners - Fahmi

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 30 (Bernama) -- The Communications Ministry has activated its Flood Relief Fund to provide immediate assistance to ministry personnel affected by the disaster.

Minister Fahmi Fadzil said the activation of the fund, established in 2022, is intended to ease the burden of 54 ministry staff identified as impacted by the ongoing floods.

They include three staff members from the Malaysian National News Agency (Bernama), 26 from the Information Department (JaPen), two from the Community Communications Department, 20 from Radio Televisyen Malaysia, two from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC) and one from the ministry.

“We have also identified at least 13 media practitioners who have been affected by the floods. As such, I have instructed Bernama to continue monitoring and channel contributions to all the victims through the Tabung Kasih@HAWANA,” he said.

Fahmi was speaking to reporters after officiating at the closing ceremony of the Communication Carnival in Pantai Dalam here today.

Also present were Communications Ministry deputy secretary-general (Telecommunications Infrastructure) Mano Verabathran, senior undersecretary (Management) Mazlan Abd Mutalib and Bernama chief executive officer Nur-ul Afida Kamaludin.

Fahmi further said that 124 transmitter stations have been affected by the floods, and 47 National Information Dissemination Centres could not operate due to facility damage.

A total of 23 MADANI Communities in Terengganu have also been impacted, and JaPen is still assessing the situation in other states.

“Regarding telecommunications, MCMC has taken proactive measures to address coverage issues in affected areas, including coordinating infrastructure repairs to ensure residents can stay connected during the disaster.

“We will also mobilise MADANI communities from unaffected states along with ministry staff to assist, particularly for post-flood cleanup efforts once the waters have receded,” he said.

As of this morning, the flood situation in seven states has worsened, with the number of evacuees surpassing 120,000, up from 106,505 last night.

-- BERNAMA