Deputy prime minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said the allowance for SMART personnel who took part in search and rescue (SAR) missions overseas was still low.

Saying that the government appreciated the services and commitment of the SMART personnel, he added that he had asked the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) director-general Khairul Shahril Idrus to look into the matter.

“It is reasonable if their allowance, which is called hardship allowance, can be increased according to their participation in SAR missions.

“They are the best from their respective departments and have been chosen to join SMART,” he told the media at the SMART headquarters in Pulau Meranti, near here, today.

The hardship allowance or special allowance was introduced by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim on Feb 24 after granting an allowance to the SAR team that was deployed to Turkey and Syria to help search for earthquake victims.

Zahid, who is also the central disaster management committee chairman, also suggested that SMART – which currently has 141 members from the police, fire and rescue department, and the armed forces – be expanded to seven agencies.

On Feb 8, 2023, SMART was certified as an urban search and rescue (USAR) team by the International Search and Rescue Advisory Group (Insarag) under the auspices of the United Nations to participate in missions abroad.