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| Red Crescent sets up flood squads Posted: 17 Oct 2011 10:24 PM PDT KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian Red Crescent Society (MRCS) has set up a rapid deployment squad in every state in preparation for the floods during the monsoon season at the end of the year, MRCS national vice-chairman Datuk Dr Bahari Abu Mansor said today. He said each 20-member squad is trained to go to disaster areas to provide aid and, in fact, can also cook for 500 people in an hour. Dr Bahari, who also MRCS disaster management committee chairman, said the society had issued a flood alert to each state committee as a precaution.
"We have 25 ambulances and five boats at the headquarters for use nationwide and some of them have been in use for more than 20 years," he said. Dr Bahari said he hoped that corporate organisations could help contribute ambulances and boats to the society. -- BERNAMA |
| Strike-hit Qantas grounds more jets Posted: 17 Oct 2011 09:54 PM PDT SYDNEY: Australian flag-carrier Qantas grounded another two aircraft and cancelled 80 flights Tuesday due to a bitter row with unions which has seen engineers down tools and repeated walkouts by ground staff. Qantas chief Alan Joyce said the airline's on-time performance had dropped to 75 percent in the past week due to ongoing industrial action by staff which had seen maintenance work back up to an impossible level. The airline grounded five jets and axed almost 100 domestic weekly services last week due to the disruption, and Joyce said another two Boeing 767s had been taken out of service, resulting in the loss of another 80 flights.
Almost 500 flights have now been cancelled for the next month, and Joyce warned of further disruptions, with industrial action scheduled until Christmas. "The ongoing action from the licensed aircraft maintenance engineers' union means we do not have the manpower to fulfill all of the necessary maintenance on our fleet of aircraft," Joyce said.
Joyce said the go-slow by engineers had seen a backlog of 60,000 maintenance man hours amass, causing "ongoing and unplanned disruption to our
He rejected claims that the aircraft had already been slated for grounding prior to the strikes, accusing engineers of attempting "to divert attention away from the significant damage" of their actions. "These aircraft are flying this week and from Monday they won't be," Joyce said. "When we clear the backlog of maintenance then the aircraft will be put back into service. It's as simple as that." More than 60,000 passengers have been affected by the industrial action over the past two months, with 129 flights cancelled and another 321 rescheduled. Joyce said the engineers' "unreasonable" demands, which include a new Aus$95 million hangar, would cost Qantas Aus$165 million. Talks would resume with the ground staff union Tuesday, engineers on Thursday and pilots next Friday, he added, saying Qantas remained "committed to reaching a negotiated outcome with the three unions". Prime Minister Julia Gillard has urged the warring parties to "get on" with talks, warning they could face government intervention if the Australian economy or the welfare of its population is deemed to to be under threat. - AFP Full content generated by Get Full RSS. |
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