BELAGA, Dec 16: The Belaga district police will operate at a shophouse on a temporary basis until their new building is built.
State commission of police, Datuk Aidi Ismail said during his visit at the aftermath of the fire yesterday that they would find a suitable shophouse to rent that will be converted to the office of the station.
“Belaga police station need to function as usual for the community. So we will rent a shophouse,” he said.
Datuk Aidi added that a short-circuit was believed to have sparked the fire which burned down the wooden-structure administrative block of Belaga police station on Monday (Dec 14).
Accompanying him during the visit was assistant minister of Public Utility, Datuk Liwan Lagang who is also Belaga assemblyman.
“We understand the fire was caused by short-circuiting but Bomba is still investigating the case,” he said.
The administrative block housed several departments which include district police chief office, Narcotic Investigation, special branch, a criminal investigation, traffic, transport, finance, licensing, communication office, lock-up and record department.
State Fire and Rescue Department on Monday said only a firearm and a vehicle were saved in the fire which destroyed all other things belonging to the force.
Belaga Fire station received a distress call at about 1.20pm concerning the fire. Four firemen were immediately dispatched to the scene and they arrived there in 15 minutes.
They were assisted by Rela, a civil defence force and members of the public in fighting the fire.
Another five firemen from Bintulu station reached the scene four hours later due to the long distance between Bintulu and Belaga.
“The fire was brought under control at 3.45pm,” it said.
The department added that the cause and actual amount loss from damaged in property in the fire are still under investigation. — DayakDaily
