Put Planting Of Trees In Disaster Prone Areas On Asean Agenda - Malaysian Minister

ARAU (Perlis, Malaysia), Oct 15 (Bernama) - Malaysia wants to put the planting of trees in disaster prone areas on the agenda of the ASEAN disaster management meeting in Laos at year end. Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Shahidan Kassim said the matter was touched in the meeting in Manado, Indonesia, recently. "Planting trees can reduce the impact of disasters such as tsunami, floods and landslides and protect the watershed," he said after launching the state level Jamboree On The Air (JOTA) at Kolej Matrikulasi Perlis, here Saturday. Meanwhile, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) will recruit 5,000 volunteers to beef up enforcement of the country's territorial waters. On the big waves forecasted, Shahidan said the government has set up relief centres in Perak, Selangor and Kedah from today until Oct 19. "We cannot take things lightly although it is expected to be moderate as people have died in the past." --BERNAMA