PUCHONG, Oct 17 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today suggested that a review of the allowance given to the Malaysian Special Search and Rescue Team (SMART) should be conducted with a possible increase in mind.
This was to motivate the team as it is among the world’s best search and rescue teams, he told reporters at the National Preparedness Month celebrations at SMART headquarters in Puchong this afternoon.
“This is to motivate the team and to ensure that only the best people are chosen as SMART team members, similar to what is practised by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), the best there enter the Special Actions Unit (UTK), or with the Royal Malaysian Navy and its elite unit (Paskal) and so on,” he said.
The SMART team received recognition from Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan when it participated in aid efforts in Turkiye following the earthquake that happened there earlier this year, Zahid added.
When asked how much the allowance currently is, Zahid just replied that it was “only a little”.
When asked to disclose how much of an allowance increase he would like to see, Zahid responded: “I have asked the director-general to study it and the request has come from a minister.”
He was referring to National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus. Zahid is also the minister of rural and regional development.
He said that it should be done as soon as possible as “in Islam, we say that if you want to pay wages, do not wait until the sweat has dried.”
During today’s event, SMART also unveiled its simulation site, which was previously reported would be completed this month.
Khairul Shahril told Bernama in July that the site was being upgraded with several search and rescue training modules.
