SIBU: The National Institute of Occupational Safety and Health (Niosh) and Life Saving Society of Malaysia (LSSM) are pushing for the establishment of a National Water Safety Council (NWSC) in the country.
Sign boards erected to warn the public to take necessary precautions at Lake Garden, Permai housing estate.
Niosh chairman Tan Sri Lee Lam Thye, in disclosing this yesterday, stressed that it was imperative that such council be set up due to the increasing number of deaths by drowning.
“According to statistics from the Fire and Rescue Services Department (Bomba) as reported in the newspaper, there were about 330 deaths by drowning in 2013.
“For the first two months of this year, 67 deaths (by drowning) were reported.
“This speaks volumes of the urgency to form a National Water Safety Council to reduce incidents of drowning in Malaysia and promote a water safety culture for Malaysians.
“LSSM and Niosh are now trying to push the government to set up the proposed council,” Lee told The Borneo Post.
He noted drowning cases were quite rampant in the Peninsula, especially involving young people such as students.
He reasoned if the council was formed, it could act as a national body of relevant government agencies, ministries, NGOs and other stakeholders to discuss means and ways to create awareness among the people of the dangers of drowning and what need to be done by authorities to reduce the number of drowning cases.
“So the purpose of having the National Water Safety Council is to involve stakeholders to concertedly undertake measures to formulate national policies for the purpose of helping to reduce deaths by drowning,” he explained, saying without the council, the matter had been tackled in a haphazard
manner.
He also revealed that LSSM had trained about 50,000 young swimmers and life savers.
Lee was asked to comment on water safety measures following the death of two schoolmates by drowning in a pond near the police station in Sibu Jaya housing estate last month.
Lee further revealed that he would be meeting up with the Minister of Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan probably sometime this week to discuss their proposal to set up the council.
“We want the government to understand that it is important for it to view the matter with utmost concern,” he said.