KUCHING: The Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Sarawak has identified several past and possible future issues in preparation for the northeast monsoon season.
Its director PKPjB Khirudin Drahman said among them were temporary evacuation centre and Regional Forward Base (RFB).
“Last year, a total of 621 temporary evacuation centres were set up in Sarawak namely Kuching (162), Serian (35), Samarahan (36), Sri Aman (39), Betong (47), Sarikei (25), Sibu (48), Mukah (37), Bintulu (30), Miri (107) and Limbang (27).
“However, we might need more this time due to the current Covid-19 pandemic, where we must comply to the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) in all temporary evacuation centers.
“We have also discussed with the Welfare Department (JKM) on operating the center and its Regional Forward Base (RFB) where immediate food aid and other essential are stored for flood victims,” Khirudin told at a press conference today.
With the setting up of RFB, he pointed that delays on food aid or essentials can be minimised or even totally solved as compared to previous years where victims had to wait for few days.
Khirudin added that although it will be difficult to please each and every victim, however based on the previous flood cases in Kapit and Belaga, having RFB had proven to be effective in faster distribution and coordination.
Thanking Sarawak State Disaster Management Committee (SDMC) led by Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas and JKM led by Datuk Sri Fatimah Abdullah, Khirudin asserted that good cooperation between the agencies will definitely benefit not just the victims but whole community.
Meanwhile, apart from assisting in distributing aids for flood victims, rescue and evacuation missions, Bomba together with SDMC and National Security Council (MKN) are ready to face the northeast monsoon season which may hit several parts of Sarawak with heavy rain and thunderstorms between November to March next year. — DayakDaily
