GENEVA: Telecommunication companies have been invited to participate in the early warning system for disasters that would enable Malaysians to receive notifications or alerts on their smart phones before disaster strikes.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who is also the Minister-in Charge for disaster management said her side was still looking for the best possible way to go about it.
“We are trying to get the cooperation of telcos because almost everybody have a smart phone. So if you have an early warning system and how to do it and if you can be alerted,“ she told Bernama and RTM in a press conference here today, on the last day of her working visit here.
Wan Azizah is in Geneva for a three-day working visit since Tuesday to lead the Malaysian delegation to the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (GPDRR), a biennial event coordinated by the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction.
She said her side was looking at possible cooperation with telcos as part of their CSR programme which offers tax relief for these companies.
Wan Azizah last year said Malaysia should consider using SMSes to better warn the public about disasters in their areas as the existing usage of warning sirens may not be enough to alert the public during instances of floods and such. — Bernama
