By Nancy Nais
SAMALAJU, Dec 10: Foreign and local investors in Samalaju Industrial Park can finally have peace of mind, now that there is a fire and rescue station in the vicinity.
After months of delay, with five extension dates, the new Samalaju fire station is finally completed and was handed over to the state Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) today.
The construction of the RM4.598 million fire station was done by Himpun Daya Sdn Bhd.
Bomba director general Datuk Mohammad Hamdan said the delay in its completion was not the contractor’s fault, but due to preliminary problems and also to comply with the local authority’s requirements.
Samalaju is a large industrial area with an estimated value of RM40 billion in investment.
“With the current slow economic situation, Samalaju may be the solution for more investors to come in, especially now that this place is equipped with a Bomba station. Investors will have better confidence in choosing this place,” Hamdan said at the handing over ceremony here today.
He opined that this is also a good initiative by both federal and state governments towards nation building for economic growth.
“As an agency involving in fire and safety, Bomba Samalaju will assist in terms of fire, rescue, safety and looking after all the assets in this area. Thus, the move to build a fire station here is ideal,” he added.
Categorised under class C, the fire station will have 30 to 40 manpower and is scheduled to be fully operational by mid next year.
Presently, the station is operated by officers and firefighters from the Bintulu Bomba station as well as volunteers.
“We have about 1,200 new recruits coming in. Once they’ve completed their training, they will be posted nationwide, including to Samalaju station,” Hamdan said.
Meanwhile, Hamdan also said he had requested that the state government be more proactive in providing good locations for the construction of future fire stations as strategic locations according to grids of the fire risk index will enable closer proximity to the community and shorter response times. — DayakDaily
