PUTRAJAYA: Damage experienced by 97 Fire Rescue Tender (FRT) units were not only caused by Power Take Off (PTO) but also due to frequent use for the purpose of fire fighting, rescue, humanitarian services and special tasks, according to Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin.
She said this was the finding of the Investigation Committee (JKS) set up on April 17 to conduct investigations on the procurement and maintenance of 242 FRT units following a media report on April 15 about 97 damaged FRT units.
In its investigation from April 19 to June 30, 2019, the Investigation Committee visited the Salak Tinggi Engineering Centre, Selangor State Machine Engineering and Kuala Lumpur Machine Engineering entities.
The investigation found that the Department of Fire and Rescue Malaysia (JBPM) had acquired 242 FRTs in 2007, 2011 and 2012 and that the FRTs were now seven to 12 years old.
“With the age of the FRTs ranging from seven to 12 years, damage averaging 10 times for every machine is normal. Due to the high usage, it is logical to change to new machines,” Zuraida said in a statement on the JKS investigation report yesterday.
On the latest status of the 97 units, Zuraida said 60 units were in good condition, 13 were under repair, 10 in the tendering process, eight awaiting allocations, one under investigation (due to an accident), three undergoing inspection and two being disposed.
She also denied reports that machines purchased in 2007, 2010 and 2014 were in disuse due to the failure of the supplier to adhere to the specifications given.
“The JBPM has confirmed that all processes of designing and specification of the machines were complied with,“ she said.
She said her ministry had always ensured that the proposed fire maintenance allocation was tabled to the Ministry of Finance through Operating Expenditure every year.
“If the maintenance allocation is insufficient, an additional allocation application will be submitted to the Finance Ministry,“ she said, adding that there was no issue of the ministry slashing any allocation for maintenance, as was reported. - Bernama
