KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Fire and Rescue Department will be implementing the 1RApi (1 Rumah 1 Pemadam Api) programme aimed at equipping kampong houses with fire extinguishers.
Its director, Nordin Pauzi said that the programme was a fire safety awareness campaign that would focus on high-risk areas which the department had identified, such as water settlements.
Through the programme, he said, it was hoped that the community would become more aware of the importance of equipping oneself with fire safety knowledge and tools, one of them being the fire extinguisher.
Unlike houses built by developers, building kampong houses, said Nordin, did not require them to go through the Fire and Rescue Department for Occupational Certificate (OC) approval, which enlisted equipping houses with fire extinguishers as one of its requirements.
“We want to safeguard the safety of all people, including and especially those living in high-risk areas. Houses built by developers are not only equipped with fire extinguishers but they’re also built with proper structures not prone to fire, as compared to kampong houses,” said Nordin.
The fire extinguishers will not be distributed for free though. Each unit will be sold at RM80 and payable by installment, which Nordin said was a much lower price compared to buying it directly from the supplier.
This, he said, was to stress on the people developing their own awareness enough to purchase the fire extinguisher and play better role in preventing fire from happening.
“People tend to take things given for free for granted. If we are to give it to them for free, it will defeat the main purpose of the programme which is to create awareness.
“So the plan is to approach the villagers with an awareness talk, through which we hope they will learn of the importance of fire safety and be moved to want to equip their house with fire extinguishers. And hopefully once they have such a tool in their house, they will be more cautious when using electrical or fire sources. We would then be able to eliminate the major factor that contributes to fire, which is negligence,” he stressed.
Apart from that, this approach will also make it possible for villagers to use their fire extinguishers during fire breakouts, enabling them to contain the initial stages of fire while waiting for firemen to arrive.
Nordin disclosed that a trial run for the programme had been conducted in Tawau where they managed to sell about 200 units of fire extinguishers.
“We will be implementing the programme next in Semporna, where there is high number of fire cases, then to Lahad Datu, Sandakan, Kudat and Kota Kinabalu,” he said.
Nordin was speaking to reporters after the Fire and Rescue Department’s annual assembly held at the department’s headquarters in Kolombong, here yesterday.