Khirudin (front, third right), flanked by Tiong (second right) and Pottas, joins the APC 2019 recipients in a group photo. At second left is Law.
MIRI: Sarawak has done very well in containing Covid-19 infections and managing all cases, says Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) Sarawak director Khirudin Drahman.
In this respect, he commends all firefighters who have been serving alongside other frontliners in efforts meant to flatten the curve of transmissions.
One of the efforts has been sanitisation works on public places, as outlined by Sarawak Disaster Management Committee (SDMC).
This exercise was commissioned in March this year, following the enforcement of the Movement Control Order (MCO).
“So far, we have conducted a total of 1,361 public sanitation and disinfection operations across all districts in Sarawak.
“There were some ‘so-called experts’ who said such sanitisation works should only be conducted in Covid-19 red zones, and not in green and yellow zones.
“Although SDMC’s decision (to run sanitisation works across all districts) was initially questioned by certain quarters, eventually we can now see the results,” he said during a press conference after attending Bomba Sarawak’s ‘Excellent Service Award (APC) 2019’ presentation at Curtin University Malaysia auditorium here yesterday.
Khirudin also took the opportunity to express thanks to Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas, who is also SDMC chairman; and Local Government and Housing Minister Dato Sri Dr Sim Kui Hian for having done ‘a good job’.
The Bomba Sarawak chief also disclosed that the department had carried out 161 Humanitarian Assistance and Disaster Relief (HADR) missions, and 58 food delivery missions throughout the duration of the MCO.
“Many do not realise that we were also involved in operations to transport positive Covid-19 patients from quarantine centres to hospitals – we did this at night, away from public view.
“I am proud of our Bomba personnel who have carried out their duties and followed instructions properly during this period, despite realising the risks that they’re exposed to,” he said.
Additionally, Khirudin appreciated the Sarawak government for contributing RM200 to every firefighter, under the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) 3.0 – he regarded this as the state government’s acknowledgement to the roles and contribution of every Bomba member to society.
On another subject, Khirudin said during the MCO and the Conditional MCO periods, there were fewer cases of fires and missing persons than prior-MCO.
However, after the Recovery MCO period was announced (beginning June 10 and ending Aug 31), they received more of such cases.
“If there’s a thing that we could learn from the MCO and the CMCO periods would be when the majority of people obeyed the government’s instructions and took precautionary measures seriously, many tragedies could be avoided,” he said.
Meanwhile, 51 staff members from Bomba 4, 5, 6 and 7 zones received their APC certificates yesterday.
Bomba Sarawak assistant director (operations) Tiong Ling Hii, Bomba Miri chief Law Poh Kiong and Curtin Malaysia chief operating officer Pieter Willem Pottas were also present at the event.