Police deploy helicopters to aid Kelantan flood relief centres cut off by road

PASIR MAS, Nov 30 — Assistance in the form of food supplies and necessities to nine temporary relief centres (PPS) that have been cut off from land routes will be provided using helicopters belonging to the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).

Kelantan police chief Datuk Mohd Yusoff Mamat said that so far, the seven disconnected PPS are in Pengkalan Kubur, Tumpat, and two relief centres in Lubuk Jong and Rantau Panjang.

“The frequency of deliveries will depend on the needs at the PPS, and it is likely that we will request assistance from the fire department’s air unit if the helicopters from the PDRM are insufficient.”

“Yesterday, a PDRM helicopter arrived in Kelantan, along with heavy vehicles from the Malaysian Armed Forces (MAF) and others, as announced by the Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Ahmad Zahid Hamidi yesterday,” Mohd Yusoff told reporters at a press conference at the Disaster Operations Control Centre at the Repek police station here today.

He said the police helicopter which arrived at 6 pm yesterday had been used several times, once to transport a patient from a PPS to the hospital and the rest to deliver food aid to the PPS that have been cut off.

“This morning, we sent an elderly person from the PPS in Lubok Jong to the hospital, and earlier today, we delivered food aid to the PPS in Lubok Jong.

“We will also make another food delivery today to the PPS in Lubok Jong,” he also said.

Mohd Yusoff added that vehicles with an unladen weight of five to seven tonnes brought into the state will be on standby to transport candidates for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination starting on Monday (Dec 2). — Bernama