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Malaysia has about 20,000 cases of fire every year. This figure is still high, costing losses of at least RM 400 million. There are deaths and injuries. We need to improve fire services.

At 4 a.m. fire consumed a flat on the 15th floor of City Hall's Sri Kelantan
flats in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur. Five members of a family died and one
injured. Apparently, they were trapped behind a locked grille.

City Fire and Rescue Department director Leonard A. Athanasius said that there would be a special investigating team, studying the cause of the fire. We hope the investigation is completed soon.

We have repeatedly brought up the problems of fire and its prevention within and outside Parliament. For example, the Fire Department has to approve all building plans. How effective is it in ensuring that all buildings conform to fire regulations? How does it inspect all fire hydrants in the country? When fire breaks out, firemen have difficulty in finding hydrants that work. In Jinjang North, just behind the fire station, there were three fires last year. Each time, the firemen could scarcely locate hydrants that functioned.

FIRE ALLOCATION

Although the Department has long ladders and helicopters, a tall building such as the Petronas Twin Towers would have to depend on many things for fire prevention and rescue. Can we prevent a towering inferno? The efficiency of the Department and the cooperation of the people are important.

This year, the allocation for the Fire and Rescue Department is over RM
546.7 million, out of which RM 123.5 million are for fire operation, RM 3
million for prevention and RM 21.76 million for Fire Air Unit.

The Department has to improve its system and effectiveness. It receives
about 20,000 calls from the whole country a year, out of which about 1,400 are hoaxes. These hoaxes are bad for the morale of firemen.

Every year fire damage costs about RM 400 million and about RM 4 billion properties saved. We hope that with efficiency and cooperation, this type of loss, injury and death can be reduced.

Dr Tan Seng Giaw