KUCHING: The federal government has been told to reconsider when it comes to applying Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) norms in Sarawak.
Sarawak Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Dr Sim Kui Hian explains that Sarawak has a huge petrochemical industry, numerous hydroelectric dams and longhouses in remote areas.
“That is why when it comes to Sarawak, the government needs to reconsider the national plan.
“They cannot expect Sarawak to fit into this national plan. It needs to be modified because of our demographic and different circumstances here,” Dr Sim said when officiating the handover of Bomba vehicles and equipment at the Bomba headquarters in Jalan Setia Raja here.
He stressed that the needs in Sarawak were very different to Peninsular’s.
“Over in the Peninsula, they have wide roads and highways that allow big fire engines to get to the location of the incident fast.
“In Sarawak, the roads are narrow and sometimes our fire engines are not able to access them to get to the scene.”
Dr Sim also acknowledged Bomba’s need for 24 more fire stations to ensure good coverage in Sarawak, and assured that this matter would be brought up with the federal government.
There are currently 34 stations statewide, and four others will be completed soon – Sibujaya, Sungai Plan, Sungai Asap and Bintangor.
