THE 12-person team that retrieved the flight recorders of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 reunite for the first time since venturing into war-ravaged eastern Ukraine 10 years ago. In a special programme organised by the ‘New Straits Times’, they met and received the gratitude of some of the family members whose loved ones were killed aboard the ill-fated airliner. The next of kin finally learn firsthand the risks and dangers ‘The Dozen Persons’ had to navigate while unarmed as fighting raged between Ukrainian government and separatist forces.

THEIR orders were to go into war-ravaged Donetsk in Ukraine, secure the crash site and black boxes from Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17, and recover the remains of the victims.

The region where the Boeing 777200ER had crashed — brought down by a Russian-made BUK 9M38 surfaceto-air missile on July 17, 2014 — had seen intense fighting between Ukrainian forces and separatist troops. The jetliner was en route to Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam, when it was shot down in eastern Ukraine.

The aircraft carried 283 passengers and 15 crew. There were no survivors.

The 12 Malaysians handpicked for this mission — “The Dozen Persons” — were told to go in — unarmed — and get the job done, using nothing but their wits, ingenuity, and guile. At almost every turn, they faced the constant threat from both Russian and Ukrainian snipers, being doublecrossed, or worse — executed as spies if captured.

A decade after their mission in Ukraine, “The Dozen Persons” reunited for the first time to recount their harrowing experience of entering an active war zone, unarmed.

In a special programme organised by the ‘New Straits Times’ to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the tragic shootdown and the daring mission that eventually brought some closure, these unsung heroes were not just reunited, but were able to meet the families of several MH17 victims.

“The Dozen Persons Reunited”, was a poignant reunion, marked with gratitude, as the key players could finally tell the real story of their mission.

For the families, it was especially moving, to finally be able to thank the 12 men who were willing to lay down their lives to bring home their loved ones. Many said that they did not know about “The Dozen Persons”, partly because there has been little recognition of the role they played.

One of the team members, Superintendent Abd Rahim Abd Aziz, praised the NST for the effort, noting the challenges in organising such a reunion.

“There are two good things that we can benefit from today’s session... First, we get to meet one another after 10 years. “Secondly, we get to share the real stories. This is a great effort from the NST, because no one had ever attempted to reunite us in one session (before) today,” he said.

Besides Rahim, the team included Colonel (Rtd) Mohd Sakri Hussin from the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), Major-General (Rtd) Datuk Dr Mohd Ilham Haron, Colonel Dr Mohd Hafizi Abdullah, and Major Dr Mohd Zainizam Zainal from the Armed Forces’ Royal Medical Corps.

The team also comprised four members of the Royal Malaysian Air Force’s special forces unit (Paskau) — Colonel Muhammad Mustafa Omar, retired Sergeant Rosli Mustafa, retired Warrant Officer Shahrizal Abu Bakar, and Flight Sergeant Mohd Affandy Ahmad Zaini.

Lieutenant Colonel Nadzri Musman from the Armed Forces’ Religious Corps, Rosli Shaari from the Special Malaysia Disaster Assistance and Rescue Team (Smart), and Datuk Dr Mohd Shah Mahmood of the Kuala Lumpur Hospital Pathology and Disaster Victim Identification team, were also part of the group.

During their two-day life-anddeath mission, the team encountered 12 military checkpoints on their journey from Kyiv to Donetsk. The area was an active combat zone, and each checkpoint was manned by troops armed with heavy-caliber weapons. Some were backed up by Russianmade BMPs (infantry fighting vehicles), and tanks.

On one occasion, they were stopped dead in their tracks when Ukrainian forces detected their movement towards Donetsk, and demanded that they leave immediately.

The team then met with separatist leader Alexander Borodai and, after some tense negotiations, managed to secure safe passage into the crash site. There, the team recovered some crucial evidence, including the plane’s black boxes. They also secured and recovered the remains of the victims.

Mustafa said the mission proved that, despite being a small country, Malaysia was capable of planning and executing a dangerous mission amidst a regional conflict between a nuclear superpower and her neighbour — without a single shot being fired. This achievement was even recognised by the international media.

“The incident occurred thousands of miles away from our country, amidst a war between a superpower and her neighbour. Despite being a small country, we demonstrated our capability in negotiations and crash recovery operations.

“This is why the media recognised our efforts and our leadership’s ability to manage this crisis.”

However, Rosli Shaari expressed the team’s disappointment at the government’s failure to acknowledge their sacrifice, and the risks they took.

“It’s about team effort. None of us can claim that they were the sole hero for this mission.

“We gave our soul, our heart and, of course, 100 per cent commitment to this mission, which was during Ramadan. We got the job done, accomplished the mission, but we never received any recognition or appreciation from anybody,” he said.

The reunion also saw the team being honoured with a special plaque from Defence Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin.

In his speech, read out by his military adviser, Brigadier-General Datuk Mohammad Razief Che Ahmad, Khaled said the mission undertaken by the team was a testament to their commitment to justice for Malaysia over the downing of the plane.

“Entering a war zone unarmed, without any weapons to protect themselves, is not an easy task, and they faced this harrowing experience without any issues.

“Although this mission was very challenging, it did not dampen the spirit of these 12 remarkable individuals in the slightest,” he said.

Kuala Lumpur: Kementerian Peralihan Tenaga dan Transformasi Air (PETRA) melalui Jabatan Pengairan dan Saliran (JPS) mengenal pasti 5,648 lokasi ‘hotspot’ atau kawasan pasti banjir di seluruh negara.

Timbalan Perdana Menteri yang juga Menteri Peralihan Tenaga dan Transformasi Air, Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, berkata JPS merancang penyelesaian jangka pendek dan panjang untuk kawasan terbabit.

Bagi penyelesaian jangka pendek, katanya, JPS melakukan persediaan kesiapsiagaan untuk mengurangkan risiko banjir kepada penduduk, antaranya dengan mengaktifkan Bilik Kawalan Operasi Pusat Ramalan dan Amaran Banjir (PRABN).

Beliau berkata, PRABN ini beroperasi 24 jam dalam menghasilkan ramalan kejadian banjir tujuh hari ke hadapan dan memberi hebahan seawal dua hari selepas mendapat ramalan cuaca dari Jabatan Meteorologi Malaysia (Metmalaysia) kepada agensi berkaitan untuk dihebahkan kepada orang awam.

Kuala Lumpur: Purata suhu permukaan Semenanjung Malaysia menunjukkan peningkatan 0.24 darjah Celsius setiap dekad, dengan pelbagai faktor sama ada semula jadi atau kesan aktiviti manusia antara penyebab.

Menteri Sumber Asli dan Kelestarian Alam, Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad, berkata purata suhu bulanan di Semenanjung Malaysia pada Mei lalu adalah 28.8 darjah

Celsius, manakala purata suhu bulanan pada Mei 1974 iaitu 50 tahun lalu adalah 26.6 darjah Celsius.

“Peningkatan suhu ini dipengaruhi pelbagai faktor iaitu faktor semula jadi dan kesan daripada aktiviti manusia. Faktor semula jadi adalah seperti perubahan iklim global dan perubahan pola cuaca.

“Peningkatan pelepasan gas rumah kaca di atmosfera secara global menyebabkan perubahan iklim yang memberi kesan terhadap peningkatan suhu global dan impaknya dapat juga dirasakan di Semenanjung Malaysia,” katanya melalui jawapan bertulis di Parlimen.

Perubahan pola cuaca

Beliau berkata demikian menjawab pertanyaan Datuk Ngeh Koo Ham (Ph-beruas) mengenai purata suhu di Semenanjung Malaysia sekarang berbanding 50 tahun lalu, selain punca perubahan itu.

Mengulas lanjut, Nik Nazmi berkata, perubahan pola cuaca seperti perubahan hujan dan musim pula boleh mempengaruhi suhu tempatan.

Selain itu, katanya, aktiviti manusia seperti penebangan hutan, pertanian dan pembangunan infrastruktur menyebabkan hilangnya kesan penyejukan semula jadi, mengubah aliran air semula jadi dan iklim tempatan turut menyumbang peningkatan suhu.

Penang now must tap into its “water fixed deposit” – the Mengkuang Dam – as the southwest monsoon brings thunderclouds from the Indian Ocean but empties much of its moisture onto Sumatra before reaching Malaysia.

This led to lower levels of water at Sungai Muda, the main raw water source for Penang and Kedah.

Penang Water Supply Corporation (PBAPP) chief executive officer K. Pathmanathan said PBAPP started drawing water from Bukit Mertajam’s Mengkuang Dam at an average of 41 million litres a day (MLD) since Saturday because Sungai Muda’s level dipped to below 2m.

He said that as of last Friday, the Muda Dam in Kedah was reported to be only 16.6% full.

“Raw water from Mengkuang Dam and Sungai Muda is now channelled to the Sungai Dua Water Treatment Plant (WTP), Penang’s largest and most important water treatment plant for 465,000 consumer accounts on mainland Penang, plus in the Northeast and Southwest Districts on the island,” he said in a statement yesterday.

Pathmanathan said PBAPP abstracted an average of 1,125.50 MLD of raw water from Sungai Muda last week, compared with 1,196.13 MLD under normal circumstances.

Under normal circumstances, more than 80% of the raw water that PBAPP abstracts daily originates from this river.

He said the status of Kedah dams that release water into Sungai Muda shows that the effective capacity of the 160-billion-litre Muda Dam (in Kedah) was reported to be at 25.7% on Friday.

He said the reported level of the other dam, Beris Dam, was 82.4% on July 11.

“The maximum effective capacity

of the Beris Dam is 120 billion litres.

“Kedah has the option to release more water from Beris Dam to increase the level of Sungai Muda.

“This measure will avoid any major issues at the 14 WTPS in Kedah and the Sungai Dua WTP in Penang,” he said.

He said with drawdowns available from Mengkuang Dam, the

presently low level at Sungai Muda should not pose an immediate threat to the water supply in Penang.

“We seek the kind understanding and cooperation of all water consumers to use water wisely in Penang because Sungai Muda’s level is low and the reserves of Muda Dam have been depleted,” he said.