‘99 per cent of 2.8 million emergency calls are false’

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Abdul Rahman (second right) during a working visit to the ‘Malaysia Emergency Response Services’ 999 (MERS 999) operation centre in Kuala Lumpur. — Bernama photo

KUALA LUMPUR: About 99 per cent of the 2.8 million emergency calls made each month by members of the public are false calls.

Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan said the false calls on 999 were either made by silent callers, or mischievous children.

“It is most unfortunate that, because of this irresponsible act, the 999 line becomes busy and prevent genuine calls from getting through,” he told a media conference after a working visit to the ‘Malaysia Emergency Response Services’ 999 (MERS 999) operation centre, here, yesterday.

He said the MERS 999 operation centre often received calls from 9am to 2pm from numerous areas and the operators had their hands full as they received a call every 10 seconds.

The centre has three branches, in the national capital, Kuching and Melaka.

He said the abuse of the emergency line and the expansion of the MERS 999 operation centre which, prior to this, only operated in Kuala Lumpur, were due to the growth of cellphone ownerships among the younger generations today.

“I suggest that the Communication and Multimedia Commission identify and take action against the prank callers so they can be charged.

“Granted, there are too many to charge, but if we can nab two or three culprits, it will serve as a lesson to others,” he said.

Abdul Rahman said a prank caller could be charged under the Communication and Multimedia Act 1998 which provided imprisonment of up to two years and fine of up to RM50,000, or both.

In the meantime, Abdul Rahman also stressed that MERS 999 must be proactive by mastering the social media and emulating emergency call centres in the West which uploaded recorded emergency calls on Youtube to show society real life emergency calls.

“I think the public will become more responsible and understand the situation better when they hear a genuine emergency call,” he said.

Meanwhile, at the same conference, he also announced a cooperation between the Fire and Rescue Department and MERS 999 to prepare two new modules, namely, an emergency plan for highrise building complexes and identifying the locations of fire hydrants near incidents of fire outbreaks.

He said the two modules were being developed and were expected to be applicable this year if the preparation ran smoothly. — Bernama