CIVIL DEFENCE DEPT TAKES THE LEAD IN HANDLING DISASTERS

MELAKA (Malaysia), June 13 (Bernama) -- The Civil Defence Department attended to 54,453 daily emergency cases involving 27,432 victims in 2010, Deputy Home Minister Abu Seman Yusop said Sunday.

This is 52 per cent higher than the 35,830 cases the department handled in 2009, he said when closing the 17th national-level civil defence exercise at Pantai Puteri in Tanjung Kling here.

Abu Seman said the department attended to 22,376 cases in the first four months of 2011.

He said the department now took the lead in the handling of natural
disasters instead of just giving support service.

He said the department now had 235,227 members and 76,068 volunteers. It has 127 district offices, compared to 68 last year.