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

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