SEBERANG JAYA, Feb 23 — Housing and Local Government Minister Zuraida Kamaruddin today urged youths and women to join the Fire and Rescue Department of Malaysia (JBPM) which currently has over 2,000 vacancies to be filled.

She said the positions must be filled to cater to the current needs as at the moment firefighting volunteers and community firefighting teams were being engaged in relief operations..

"At present there are only about 14,000 firefighters nationwide,” she told reporters at a Fire Safety Campaign and Launch of the JBPM Suri Programme in Penang, here.

As such, Zuraida is confident that reduction in the number of positions in the public sector would not involve JBPM whose main task is to safeguard public and national properties.

She said this in commenting on a statement by Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad who yesterday said that the size of the civil service was too big and it ought to be reduced.

Meanwhile, Zuraida said the results on the tender for the supply of fireproof clothing would be known in April.

"We have already called for tenders  or the supply of 9,000 pieces of fireproof clothing and this time the tenders would be stringently evaluated to ensure that we obtain the best quality for the price paid,” she said.

Earlier at the event Zuraida commended the initiative taken and expressed hope that the womenfolk would be able to use the knowledge gained in a fire emergency.

"Exposure to fire-fighting techniques would indirectly reduce the feeling of anxiety and panic among housewives when faced with emergency situations such as a fire,” she said. — Bernama