LANGKAWI, Nov 25 — A five-day exercise involving various agencies was launched today at the Langkawi International Airport (LIA) to determine their level of preparedness in handling crisis management.

A total of 500 personnel from 32 agencies are participating in the exercise, as per the Airport Emergency Response Plan (ERP).

The Latih Amal Keganasan Ex-Rampas Lapangan Terbang Antarabangsa Langkawi (LIA) 2019 is organised by Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) in collaboration with the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM), Fire and Rescue Department and Kedah National Security Council (NSC).

NSC National Crisis Management and Intelligence Division director Hamzah Ishak said the exercise was aimed at testing and evaluating the effectiveness of coordination and communication based on their standard operating procedures (SOP).

"Through this exercise, we will test the terrorism crisis management mechanism involving MAHB, PDRM, and other agencies in assessing readiness in handling crisis.

"We will also look into the role and action manual of each agency to evaluate the existing manual in managing an emergency crisis,” he said after launching the exercise here.

MAHB General Manager of Planning, Development, Standard and Safety Zainol Mohd Isa said the programme comprises various activities, including seminars, table top exercise, and full-scale exercise before concluding with a post-mortem to identify any weaknesses. — Bernama