KOTA KINABALU, Sept 20 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today launched the Sabah Barisan Nasional (BN) Volunteer Squad to help alleviate the burden of disaster victims across the state.
Ahmad Zahid, who is also the BN chairman, said the squad had already been assisting flood victims for the past three days, deploying four water tankers to help clean affected homes
“Today, I am officially launching the squad, which will be registered and mobilised across all 25 parliamentary constituencies in Sabah,” he told reporters after the launch at the Sabah Umno Building this afternoon.
He said the squad would work alongside the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), with funding allocated based on the situation and needs in disaster-stricken areas.
“The squad is open to everyone, not just BN members,” he added.
“In our efforts to assist the victims, we are committed to helping everyone regardless of political affiliation. Anyone can join this volunteer squad,” he said.
When asked about the number of seats BN would contest in the upcoming Sabah state election, Ahmad Zahid confirmed that BN would not be contesting all 73 state seats.
“We will field candidates in winnable seats, and we will announce the details once everything is finalised. We will also collaborate with the third force in Sabah to ensure these seats favour BN,” he said.
“We have finalised our cooperation with Pakatan Harapan (PH), and there will be no seat overlap with PH. However, everything will be confirmed after the dissolution of the assembly,” he added. — Bernama
