By Karen Bong
KUCHING, Nov 10: The fire which engulfed a shophouse at 3rd Mile Bazaar today has exposed the failure of the Ministry of Local Government including Padawan Municipal Council (MPP) after firefighters could not locate the fire hydrant, which was apparently buried during road leveling works, says Democratic Action Party (DAP) chairman Chong Chieng Jen.
Chong raised this following his visit to the scene of the blaze, where he witnessed how the firefighters’ efforts were hampered by not being able to find the fire hydrant but also leakages on the fire hoses that had lowered the water pressure.
“The Bomba (Fire and Rescue Department) arrived at the scene and was scurrying around to find the hydrant for some time but could not find it; they had to go across the road to use another visible hydrant.
“Even the fire victim was forced to take it upon himself to hack and break the concrete ground to enable firefighters to use the hydrant which I was told was buried below the road surface in the drain when MPP re-leveled the road serving the shophouses,” he told a press conference at DAP Headquarters here which was streamed live on its social media today.
During the visit, he also learned that residents have complained to MPP chairman Lo Khere Chiang regarding the need for proper maintenance of the fire hydrant, but they fell on deaf ears.
Chong said an emergency water tanker was also dispatched to supply water for fire fighting.
Taking the local authority to task, Chong, who is Stampin incumbent, said today’s incident is one of the clear examples and proof of negligence or omission and lack of care by the local authority on the safety of lives and properties of the people.
“All these caused valuable time to be wasted because when it comes to such an emergency, every second counts and yet because of the failure of the local government and council, excessive losses were incurred,” he said.
Chong pointed out that the fire fighting process could have been made much easier and effective had the local council and Ministry been more responsible to their jobs at hand, instead of “busy doing live sessions on social media”.
Earlier at the scene, Chong met Lo whom he said was nearby, streaming on Facebook.
A minor argument ensued between the two rivals who will meet in a three-cornered fight for Stampin seat come this 15th General Election (GE15).
“That just made me blow my top. As a council chairman, he has access to all the resources to mobilise and help the fire fighting. And yet he was so busy doing his live session, instead of giving a helping hand as much as possible,” he added. — DayakDaily
