KEPAYAN: PKR Sabah secretary Dr Roland Chia, yesterday called on the relevant authorities to take more proactive and preventive steps to curb fire outbreaks.
Roland, who is also the opposition party’s supreme council member, made the call after visiting the fire victim, Augustine Phan and his family, at Kg. Koidupan near here yesterday.
“The family of 13 has suffered total losses in the fire. In the case of Augustine Phan and his family, there was no water hydrant nearby the site which could be used to put off the fire. The fire outbreak happened early on Friday morning on Feb 15, the sixth day of Chinese New Year,” he said.
Chia said non-functional fire hydrants and low water pressure are some of the complaints of fire victims in Penampang.
“There have been several fire outbreaks occurring over the last one year in the residential and village areas of Kg Nosoob, Kg Ganang and Kg Kobusak, and now Kg Koidupan Kapayan. As a result of these shortcomings, these fire victims had to bear total loss of their properties and possessions. Some are still awaiting financial assistance and funding to rebuild their homes.”
He urged the local authorities to be more proactive and vigilant especially in taking preventive measures to ensure fire outbreaks such as this can be curtailed to prevent losses to the victims.
He also expressed the hope that the local community can come forward to assist the families concerned through donations and assistance in kind so that they can rebuild their homes as early as possible.