PUTRAJAYA, Oct 17 — The government is considering increasing the current RM100 a day hardship allowance of the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (SMART) to a more reasonable amount as an appreciation and motivation for the team members.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the allowance given to SMART personnel who take part in overseas search-and-rescue (SAR) missions is still low.
Adding that the government appreciated the services and commitment of the SMART personnel involved in various SAR missions, he said he has asked National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus to investigate the matter.
"It is reasonable if their allowance, which is called hardship allowance, can be increased according to their participation in SAR missions.
"They are the best in their teams and have been chosen to join SMART,” Zahid told the media after launching the National Preparedness Month 2023 (BKN2023) at the SMART Headquarters in Pulau Meranti today.
The hardship allowance or special allowance was introduced on February 24 after Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced granting the allowance to SMART personnel involved in the SAR mission for earthquake victims in Turkiye and Syria.
The issue caught the attention of Anwar after he visited the SMART personnel camp in Turkiye on February 15.
Zahid, who is also the Central Disaster Management Committee chairman, also suggested that SMART, which currently has 141 members from three agencies, namely the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Fire and Rescue Department and Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF), be expanded to seven agencies.
On February 8, SMART was certified as an Urban Search and Rescue (USAR) team by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (Insarag) under the auspices of the United Nations (UN) to participate in disaster missions abroad.
He also suggested all agencies involved in disaster management apply the latest technology in line with the development of Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR4.0) to empower SAR operations.
The use of such technology could help the agencies involved to understand disaster risks and speed up the decision-making process while the sharing of disaster information can be channelled in real-time.
"In addition, our reliance on human resources, the latest technology like UAV (unmanned aerial vehicle or drone) must be utilised,” Zahid said.
— Bernama
