KUCHING: Courses conducted by the Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) are crucial to mitigate flood problems and create awareness to the general public on safety measures, says its state director Datuk Khirudin Drahman.
He said during the flood incidents in 2020 and 2021 in Sarawak during the COVID-19 period, the locals knew how to handle and navigate through the flood issue that was happening back then.
“This shows the importance of these Bomba programmes, and the public are well aware of that,” he said.
He said this to the reporters after attending the opening ceremony of Petra Jaya New Bomba Community 2023 course at Petra Jaya Fire Station here yesterday.
Khirudin also said through the various collaborations with the Sarawak Social Welfare Department (JKM), Bomba was able to retrieve lost documents and supply food aids to the flood victims which assured the trust of the public.
“There were no complaints from the public because we were able to control the tensions and uncertainty that was going on at the time,” he said.
He also commended the public for applying the lessons from Bomba especially when facing flood situations.
“The community are well trained and they are a ‘champion’ when facing such incidents in the area.
“Especially when we receive information from MetMalaysia, we immediately inform them, the public,” he added.
For the record, the Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) under the State Security and Enforcement Unit (UKPN) has about 10,000 members throughout the whole state.
