KUCHING: The federal government is urged to continue the programme of allocating fire extinguishers to villages which have limited or non-existent fire access by the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba).
Santubong MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar said that such initiative is important so that village residents can help each other to act first-hand in order to control the situation in the occurrence of fire.
“Sometimes the raging fire starts from small fire. However, how can we extinguish the fire by only using a towel or tap water every single time?
“With the fire extinguishers, residents can take matters into their own hands rather than to wait for the Bomba and watch the fire raze more things as time passes,” he said while paying a visit to the victims of a recent fire (Oct 16) at Kpg Sejingkat in Jalan Bako here, yesterday.
Wan Junaidi shared that according to the records of Kpg Sejingkat, seven houses in the village were able to escape the disastrous fate as residents responded immediately to prevent fire occurrences.
“The fire extinguishers were presented during a programme implemented in the past but was discontinued due to limited financial allocation.
“In my own constituency, there are 114 villages comprising the Malays, Chinese and Dayaks. To implement the programme in all villages require a big amount of budget.
“Thus, the federal government should see that apart from auxiliary brigade, they should also reconsider allocation for fire extinguishers distribution in villages.
“Don’t focus too much on politics. The ministers should learn how to do their work,” he added.
Wan Junaidi further stated that auxiliary firefighters exist in Bako, but not in other places.
“The cost to kick-start the auxiliary firefighters require equipment, machineries and training which would amount to not less than RM100,000 as well as a strategic location to station them.
“In areas where auxiliary firefighters cannot be created, the best way is to provide fire extinguishers and training to villagers,” he concluded.
