‘Relocate fire hydrants buried during roadworks in Sibu’

SOME fire hydrants in Sibu, Sarawak, cannot be used after being partially or completely buried under the asphalt during road upgrades.

Sibu MP Oscar Ling, who made this observation, wants the Sibu Municipal Council to coordinate with the Fire and Rescue Department to move or relocate fire hydrants that may be affected during road projects.

The council, however, would have to bear the cost of removing the fire hydrants, he said.

“I visited Sungai Merah Fire Station with my team to meet with the station head.

“I found some fire hydrants partially or completely covered up by the asphalt, making them unusable in the event of a fire,” said Ling.

He said if the fire hydrant cannot be used during a fire, it would result in serious consequences.

Ling advised the public to call the Sibu Fire Station at 084-330343 instead of using 999 for fire related emergencies.

“When people call 999, the call will be connected to the MERS main line first and then rerouted several times before finally getting through to the department,” he said.

In another development, the Sibu Rural District Council (SRDC) is distributing calendars with contact numbers of local councillors according to zones.

This will make it easier for residents to find out which councillors they should approach for assistance for various matters.

“We have added the zone councillor’s name and their phone number in the calendar.

“We also included our Facebook page,” said SRDC chairman Sempurai Petrus Ngelai after distributing the calendars to the public at Sibujaya.

He said about 29 councillors were involved in the calendar distribution.

“We want them to meet the people to better understand their problems,” he said.