YB: Urgent need for fire station in Matunggong
Published on: Friday, September 30, 2016
MATUNGGONG: Matunggong needs a fire station to facilitate rescue works in the event of a fire disaster, according to Matunggong Assemblyman Dato' Jelani Hamdan. He said the fire station is the most urgent need as the nearest fire station is in Pekan Kota Marudu, which is about 40 kilometres away, and Kudat, which is 39 kilometres away. "Many fire cases happened in the Matunggong constituency and firefighters were not able to come in time to salvage properties and put out the fires due to the distance.
ADVERTISEMENT
"In most of the cases, houses were already engulfed in fire by the time the firefighters arrived at the scene," he said. He said this when commenting on two separate fires which took place in Kg Kabangaan and Kg Birau Lokoton involving three houses. The first incident happened on Monday at Kg Kabangaan when a house belonging to 50-year-old Anas Indod and 35-year-old Henny Matgee was razed. The couple and their five children aged eight and 16 are currently staying at the village's community hall.
ADVERTISEMENT
The second fire took place at Kg Birau Lokoton on Wednesday where two houses, one belonging to Mohigil Mohigan and his son Softezo Mohigil, were destroyed. Jelani, who is also Persatuan Momogun Rungus Sabah President, said the fire happened at about 11am in Kg Birau but firefighters from Kudat only arrived at the scene at about 2pm.
ADVERTISEMENT
He said the premises could not be salvaged due to the long distance between the two fire stations in Kota Marudu and Kudat from Matunggong. "The bad conditions of roads which connect villages in Matunggong is another factor which had delayed the arrival of firefighters to the scene. "Eight similar cases have happened before and firefighters could not save the property because they only arrived after the premises had gone up in flames," he said. Jelani said he had twice appealed and expressed the urgent need for a fire station in Matunggong during the previous State Assembly sitting. He said he had also proposed in the State Assembly sitting for the establishment of fire and rescue volunteer teams and that it had received support from the Local Government and Housing Minister Datuk Seri Hajiji Noor. "I also wrote and submitted the appeal to the then Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Datuk Rahman Dahlan, but no direct answer was given," he said. Jelani said to help ease the burden of fire victims in Kg Birau Lokoton and Kg Kabangaan, Persatuan Momogun Rungus Sabah and Momogun Rungus Youth Community will launch a special fund to assist the three families involved. He said a joint committee headed by Persatuan Momogun Rungus Sabah Vice President Joseph Abis Mongingkal will mobilise the committee immediately. Stay up-to-date by following Daily Express’s Telegram channel.
Daily Express Malaysia
