PETALING JAYA: With this Hari Raya Aidilfitri being the biggest festive celebration since the Covid-19 pandemic hit two years ago, thousands of security and safety personnel are on standby to assist the public in case of an emergency.

       Over 10,000 personnel from the Fire and Rescue Department are on high alert for road accidents and fires, while some 5,000 policemen will be patrolling neighbourhoods.

       Bomba operations and rescue division director Datuk Nor Hisham Mohammad said the priority is on shortening response time to the accident scene in focus areas and highways by having temporary teams ready to be deployed, he said yesterday.

       According to the Bomba, statistics of fire emergency calls during Hari Raya recorded over the last five years, showed that the lowest number of calls had been in 2020 and 2021, when the nation was under the movement control order.

       Bomba received 966 calls during the Hari Raya festivities in 2020 and 1,108 calls during the same period in 2021, compared with 1,238 in 2017, 1,686 in 2018 and 1,143 in 2019.Nor Hisham also said the department’s annual Hari Raya fire safety campaign, which is usually held a week before the festival until a week after, is being held for a longer period this year.

       “This year, the campaign began as early as the month of Ramadan (and will continue) until a week after Hari Raya,” he said.

       In 2020 and 2021, the department had to comply with movement control order restrictions by not carrying out fire safety campaigns comprehensively, said Nor Hisham.

       The fire safety campaigns involve all state Bomba departments and are held yearly in conjunction with the festive season.

       “The organisation of these campaigns cover various spots or public focus areas such as Ramadan bazaars, shopping malls, supermarkets, hotels that organise buffet packages for breaking fast and so on,” said Nor Hisham.

       Meanwhile, more than 5,000 police personnel have been assigned to crime prevention rounds.

       In addition, all personnel under the Traffic Investigation and Enforcement Department will be working, involving some 5,717 personnel and 842 officers.

       With the exception of the traffic department, only 10% of the police workforce will be allowed to go on leave this Raya.

       Police have identified hundreds of hotspot accidents during the festive season, including 48 in Perak, Selangor (39), Sarawak (56), Melaka (12), Johor (41), Kelantan (16), and Penang (seven).

       Bukit Aman Crime Prevention and Community Safety Department (JPJKK) director Comm Datuk Aidi Ismail said 3,770 personnel from the mobile patrol vehicle (MPV) unit and 1,614 personnel from the motorcycle patrol unit (URB) would be deployed under Ops Selamat.

       “In total, 5,384 personnel from both units will be on crime prevention rounds.

       “We are committed to ensuring the safety of houses during the holidays,” he told The Star yesterday.

       Patrols near houses, where occupants have gone back to their hometowns, will be conducted from April 29 until May 8 during Ops Selamat, Comm Aidi said.

       “We urge those planning to balik kampung during that period to register with the nearest police station by filling up the balik kampung forms.

       “The MPV and URB units will step up patrols near the houses whose owners have registered,” he explained.

       Police personnel will also ensure that the Covid-19 standard operating procedure are complied with.

       “We know that Hari Raya is coming but the people must always adhere to the SOP. Covid-19 is still dangerous thus all of us must do our part in breaking the chain of infection,” he said.