A School on Fire Again!

I had to rush to the scene this morning after I receive a phone call from a member of the public that a Chung Hua Primary School at 8 ½ Mile Kuching – Bau Road was burnt down. When I arrived, I saw the gloomy faces of the parents and teachers of the school. It was an old school with few classrooms for the students in the area. No one could know how fire had started in the early morning 2.00 a.m. I was told BOMBA arrived at about half an hour later, but, lucky no one was injured in the fire as no one stayed there.

This was the second school in just over a year that was razed by fire. The other one was a Secondary School at Kenyalang Park, in Kuching.

There is a need that for the relevant authorities to take fire incidents more seriously. There is also an urgent need for the relevant authorities to inspect all wirings in all schools in the State besides providing all schools with proper fire fighting equipment. BOMBA should also be called to train teachers and students basic fire fighting techniques. This basic fire fighting techniques or procedures are necessary in the event of a fire outbreak. It would serve like a “first aid” pending relief or help from BOMBA.

It was discovered that SRB Chung Hua did not have a fire hydrant nearby, thus, this made fire fighting more difficult.

It also seems that this government never learnt the many fire incidences which occurred in and around Kuching recently.

We had fires in Padungan which caused the loss of a life. In Sky Garden a house near to Jalan Stapok was also on fire and likewise a house in the Stutong Resettlement area and a row of shop houses in Serian Bazaar were recently completely razed to the ground.