Chan (right) presenting a souvenir to Kwon.
KUCHING: Kuching city is to sign a memorandum of understanding for collaboration with Seoul Metropolitan government, a move that is set to benefit the people of both cities.
Kuching City South Council (MBKS) mayor Dato James Chan Khay Syn said the move which is likely to be done in April has been conveyed to the Chief Minister Datuk Amar Abang Johari Tun Openg and Local Government Minister Datuk Dr Sim Kui Hian.
“We will make sure the collaboration is on for the people of Kuching.
“We want to learn as much as possible from a world-class authority like Seoul Metropolitan Government.
“We are thankful for any assistance from Seoul,” Chan said when receiving a courtesy visit from Seoul Metropolitan government delegates led by Fire and Disaster Commissioner Kwon Soon-Kyung yesterday.
He hoped that the collaboration would bring the two cities closer in many areas adding that he was humbled by the historic first-time visit from the chief of one of the top fire rescue institutions in the world.
Meanwhile, Kwon said that he was deeply impressed by the exchange between Kuching and its South Korean sister-city Guro, a district within Seoul and has decided to visit to see the real situation and how they could help.
An assistance that Seoul Metropolitan government may be able to provide to Kuching is donating second-hand fire engines.
Kwon explained how the Seoul Metropolitan Fire and Disaster Headquarters, which is one of the departments under the metropolitan government, receive public feedback about their fire engines each year.
“From the feedback, we may change the size or equipment to better serve the people. As these are custom orders, the new fire engines will take up to six weeks to arrive.
“Every year we get feedback, we check our engines and we order what is necessary.
“We will be getting new engines in July or August this year. So we can consider donating the old but good ones. We have to see how many that we can donate.
“We may be able to send over to Kuching by September, but right now we cannot tell how many engines we can donate yet,” he said.
Kwon also voiced his interest in the amphibious rapid intervention vehicle (travel on both land and water) that the Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department has, after he had seen one during his visit to Fire and Rescue Headquarters at Jalan Setia Raja here.
“We do not have that in Seoul. We have three fire station branches along the Han River, which allows us to reach any fire or disaster scene within five minutes by boat.
“We also do not have chemical fire engines, as Seoul consists of mostly residential and commercial districts, not industrial,” he said.