KUCHING: Two hundred and ten participants from 11 Islamic Education Institutions (IPIs) and four from Sarawak Orphans Welfare Organisation of Malaysia (Peryatim) have been picked as Bomba Squad members.
Sarawak Islamic Council (SIC) president and Sarawak Peryatim vice-chairman Datuk Misnu Taha presented the participants with their credentials here yesterday.
The accreditation was initiated by Yayasan Pembangunan Pondok Malaysia (YPPM) and Sarawak Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) in view of the increase in arson involving IPIs recently.
It aimed to provide exposure and knowledge about fire safety equipment as well as to increase the practice of fire prevention and fire safety culture among the IPI community.
The squad will also act as the first responder to handle emergency and fire incidents.
Misnu in his speech revealed the three reasons why he chose to collaborate with Bomba for the initiative.
“The most important value that Bomba has is the high-level discipline. It is very crucial to have this where obedience should be nurtured in the IPI community for a common goal.
“Secondly, Bomba reflects the willingness to gain knowledge. This is because Bomba’s work is not only to put out fires,” he stated.
“At the same time, there are different techniques to putting out fires depending on the various situations where technicality of the building could affect the difficulty of solving the problem. So they have to have the knowledge on how to cope with the problem,” he pointed out.
Misnu continued, “Last but not least is Bomba’s preparedness in safety. It is something which we should cultivate among the IPI community to avoid fire and other incidents in the institutions.”
“Therefore, this programme is a good effort, as a platform to teach the IPI youth community to become the first responder when an incident occurs.”
Through the collaboration between SIC and Bomba, Bomba Squad is set to be established in existing IPI premises and another 19 soon-to-be established IPIs this year.
Agencies involved in the programme are the Health Department, Land and Survey Department, Sarawak Education Department, Sarawak Islamic Religious Department (JAIS), and local authority.
According to Misnu, the SIC would make further efforts to increase the IPI youth community’s preparedness to counter any future incidents.
“With the help of Bomba, we are able to record 27 registered IPIs throughout the state to date.
“These IPIs will undergo continuous inspections to ensure that the safety equipment is always in good condition in the respective localities. Apart from the IPIs, we also conduct the same inspection to our four Peryatim institutions situated in Kuching, Bintulu, Sibu and Miri,” he told reporters after the ceremony.
All religious schools and tahfiz institutions, including the institutions that teach the Islamic doctrine, must be registered with SIC as required under Section 82 of the Sarawak Islamic Council Ordinance, 2011.
One of the criteria for the registration is to acquire approval from Bomba.
Among those present yesterday were Sarawak Bomba director KhirudinDrahman, Bomba assistant director (fire safety) Mohamad FauziMohamatKifli, JAISSyariah Enforcement Division chief assistant director Ustaz Wan Shaifuddin Wan Madihi representing director Khalidi Ibrahim, and JAIS Strengthening of Islamic Education Division senior assistant director Ustaz Abdul Latip Abdul Karim.
