PAKAN: A community emergency response team (CERT) has been formed here following the successful completion of an emergency response awareness training programme organised by the State Security and Enforcement Unit of the Chief Minister’s Department recently.
Mawan (third right) signs on the plaque to officially launch Pakan CERT as (from left) Chai, Sarikei Resident Mohd Junaidi Mohidin and a representative of Petronas look on.
About 200 grassroots leaders and community members from 200 villages in Pakan district attended the three-day course held at the community hall here. Pakan assemblyman Tan Sri William Mawan Ikom officiated at its closing ceremony last Wednesday.
CERT programme, funded by Petronas under its Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), is an awareness programme that aims to train a group of community volunteers who are able to respond and help their community and neighbours in times of emergency and disaster, State Security and Enforcement Unit director Dato Dr Chai Khin Chung said in a statement yesterday.
He stressed that the CERT programme could strengthen the emergency response capabilities of the community living far from the reach of the emergency authorities.
In conjunction with the programme, Petronas also contributed fire extinguishers, first aid kits, safety helmets and life jackets to 200 villages in Pakan constituency.
According to Chai, CERT Pakan is the 35th team formed in Sarawak since the programme started in 2010.
Participants are trained on first-aid, how to perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), basic fire awareness and electrical safety during flood.
CERT awareness programme empowers the community to be prepared for emergency and at the same time promotes the spirit of volunteerism among the community members.
“With the skills picked up during the CERT programme, we hope the community will be able to help themselves, their families and neighbours during emergency. Each member in our community ought to play an active role during emergency so that we can alleviate sufferings and mitigate loss and damages,” Chai stressed.
He said another six similar programmes and five retraining programmes would be held this year.
CERT programme was initiated by the Sarawak government under the State Security and Enforcement Unit of the Chief Minister’s Department with partners comprising of the Royal Malaysia Police, Fire and Rescue Department, State Welfare Department, Health Department and Malaysia Civil Defence Force.