KANGAR: The percentage of female firefighters in the country will be increased to 15 percent by next year, said Minister of Housing and Local Government Zuraida Kamaruddin.
She said, at present, female firefighters numbered only 700 or merely five percent of the country’s firefighter population of 140,000.
“The duties of female firefighters do not differ much from the male firefighters’ and they too can conduct fire drills for the public, or give counselling and training for housewives involved in a fire,” she told reporters after visiting Kangar Fire Station here yesterday.
The minister also called on those involved in the hiring process to review the criteria and the necessary physical tests to facilitate the recruitment of female firefighters.
On the critical allowance of RM200 for firefighters, Zuraida said she would take the matter to the attention of Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad soon as it had been delayed for far too long.
“This allowance is similar to the critical allowance enjoyed by the police and military personnel. I hope the matter will be discussed in the Cabinet meeting by end of this month,” she said, adding that the allowance will involve an additional allocation of RM34 million a year to the Fire and Rescue Department. – Bernama
