Sabah to get own fire and rescue helicopter hangar: Abdul Rahman

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KOTA KINABALU: The Sabah Fire and Rescue Department is expected to get its own helicopter hangar next year, says Urban Wellbeing,Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Abdul Rahman Dahlan.

He said the hangar would enable the department to establish a squadron of helicopters to execute operations to locations inaccessible by road.

“There are several places (in Sabah) suggested for the hangar. Kota Kinabalu is the most appropriate because it is closer to remote areas like Mount Kinabalu and Crocker Range.

“But, we are very liberal in terms of the location for this hangar because it doesn’t require a runway,” he told reporters after being interviewed on RTM’s radio segment Ekspresi Sabah FM here today.

According to Abdul Rahman, the Fire and Rescue Department in Sabah has one helicopter, the Russian-made MI-17, which is being housed at the Sabah Air Aviation Sdn Bhd’s hangar here and has been servicing Sabah and Sarawak for over 10 years.

“We need at least one more heavy duty helicopter to accommodate the downtime of the other helicopter and vice-versa,” he explained. -BERNAMA