SHAH ALAM: Rubber dinghies and seven-tonne trucks. The Armed Forces will be buying an undetermined number of the rubber inflatable boats and seven-tonne trucks for flood rescue operations. The Cabinet has approved an allocation of RM10 million for the Defence Ministry to procure the boats and trucks, Defence Minister DSU Mohamad Hasan said today.
The Cabinet approved the allocation at its meeting, yesterday, Mohamad told reporters after visiting flood victims at Segamat, Johor. From Sinar Harian:
According to him, among the assets that will be purchased are rubber boats that can facilitate rescue efforts for flood victims who are trapped especially in shallow areas and a seven-tonne truck.
“Currently MAF uses combat boats but we need rubber boats used by commandos and the Fire and Rescue Department.
“This is our preparation to face non-traditional threats and provide rescue assistance in situations like this (floods),” he said at a press conference after visiting flood victims at the temporary evacuation centre at Sekolah Kebangsaan Temenggong Abdul Rahman here, today.
Mohamad said views from relevant parties including MAF will be taken into account to identify the need to purchase assets to deal with floods and place the assets in several states which often face floods such as Johor, Pahang, Terengganu, Kelantan and Negeri Sembilan.
Checks with the Eperolehan website revealed that the MSET Inflatable Composit Sdn Bhd was awarded a RM2.7 million contract to supply twenty-four rubber inflatable boats. The contract was awarded for a tender issued in June, last year. The Army also bought 20hp outboard motors for RM374,240 to Pureamps Exclusive Sdn Bhd which the tender for the equipment issued also in June, last year.
Based on the above, the Defence Ministry can issue a variation order to both companies to purchase another twenty-four RIBs (if they are found suitable for the role) and twenty-four 30hp outboard motors for some RM3 million (leaving RM7 million for the trucks). This will of course shorten the lead time for their deliveries instead of issuing out the tender for the same things.
It is interesting to note the RIBs used by the GGK for flood relief efforts are also too big for use in urban areas and shallow waters. A flat bottom inflatable boats from Zodiac or other manufacturer may well be more suitable for the job (picture below).
As for the trucks, the Army might as well either choose the MAN or Iveco as it is already operating an unknown number of these seven tonners already. With RM7 million left from the RM10 million allocation, the Army might get around seven or eight trucks only. This is based on the RM5.4 million contract awarded to High Point WorldWide Sdn Bhd, which won the tender for ten five-tonne GS cargo trucks from a tender published in October, 2020.
— Malaysian Defence
I don’t know man, many of these area are going to be underwater in the future. Whatever they were doing (if any) in those area is definitely inadequate to mitigate the issue as this is not the first time it has been flooded.
Rescue efforts with proper tools and equipments are definitely important as well but I’m sure people that live in that area would appreciate something to be done to alleviate damages to their property in future.
I don’t know much about the subject and may be talking out of my derriere but it’s just a thought. I hope everything is well in the end for those affected by the floods.
Took us 66 years to figure out we need rubber inflatable boats…dang
Buying now when floods are already happening. Give 1 month for the specs to be finalised, 1 month for tender to be open (yes its now all via tender), 3-4 months for tender selection, 2-4 months for the production of those dinghies & trucks, 1 month for our Chiefs and ministers to book their schedules to persembahkan these new assets to the public & media. By the time the units got these, the current flood season already long over. Maybe this flood season is used to justify buying things for the next flood season kua. And then the next flood season will be used justify buying more things for the flood season after that. Constantly be reactive and not proactive. Haha.
There is always the next one