SHAH ALAM: On December 7, IGP TS Razaruddin Hussain announced that the Home Ministry has approved an allocation of RM22 million for the procurement of vehicles, anti-riot dogs and firearms for the Federal Reserve Unit (FRU). The recapitalisation of the FRU, it appears, has already started with the procurement of fire-retardant boots and belts and cooling inner-shirt.
The tenders for the FR belts and t-shirts (cooling) were published separately in July. The contract to supply 2,552 belts was awarded to Plexus Asia Sdn Bhd with the LOA of RM95,700. The belts must carry items such as
Gask Mask Pouches, Pepper Spray Pouches, Pistol
Magazine Pouches, Pistol Lanyard, Handcuff Pouches dan Pistol Holster
. The belt must be fire-retardant as the FRU personnel will be using them with their anti-riot gear.
As for the t-shirt, it will be worn under their protective gear that is the reason it is must be cooling. It is not fire-retardant though like the ones worn under the racing overalls of F1 drivers. The LOA of RM113,564 was awarded to Ancora Prima Sdn Bhd for 5,104 cooling t-shirts.
I am guessing that FRU has around 2,552 personnel as each will receive two t-shirts and a single FR belt. The number of FR boots being sought is also 5,104 pairs like the t-shirts. The tender for the FR boots was published on December 20 2023, and closes on January 2, 2024.
The boots being sought must be fire-retardant, oil resistant and chemical retardant. The boot could be worn by male and female personnel and must not weight more than 1.4kg (for an eight-size boot as an example).
The police estimated cost for the FR boot is RM5.1 million. There were no cost estimates for the FR belt and t-shirt. It is likely the tenders for the other equipment mentioned at the start will be published next year.
— Malaysian Defence
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View Comments (4)
The FRU was once the scourge of Pakatan & their supporters now it is their instrument of use. What happen to their fight for freedom?
The authorities has not sent any FRU to break any riots recently, AFAIK.
Should not cost a bomb. All of the coveralls of people that works in oil & gas industry (both offshore and onshore) are of the fire retardant type.
All navy overalls are fire retardant too.
There are usually 2 types, a normal fabric with fireproof treatment (proban) or a fireproof fabric (nomex). Proban effectiveness will degrade when regularly washed.
I would prefer all mechanised infantry to have fire retardant uniforms too as they work with IFVs. USMC for example, has all its troops use fire retardant uniforms as they usually deploy on ships.
The heavy handedness of police presence during rallies of past years have clearly shown they wouldnt think twice to deploy extremely if needed to. Obviously the anti PH crowd had more restraint than their predecessors to warrant such extreme action.