TUTONG

TO ENSURE the safety of lives and property under fire and emergency situations, the Fire and Rescue Department has set a target to improve further its “less than 10-minute response time,” an official said

Director of Fire and Rescue Department Yahya Hj Abd Rahman said that the Department’s target is to improve the under 10 minutes response time from 74 per cent to 85 per cent in the short term, and to 90 per cent in the medium term, as suggested by the Minister of Home Affairs during the ceremonial parade held in conjunction with the Department’s 55th Anniversary recently.

“A short response time, of less than 10 minutes, is most critical to ensure the safety of lives and property under fire and emergency situations,” said Yahya in his speech during the official launching of the newly-built Bukit Beruang Fire Station and its housing units as well as the awarding ceremony in Tutong District.

He mentioned that the establishment of the Bukit Beruang Fire Station is in line with the objective of the Department to provide a faster and more efficient emergency service for the safety of the residents at Kg Bukit Beruang in particular and Mukim Telisai and its surrounding areas in general.

Since the new fire station started to operate on March 9 this year, the fire station had received 55 distress calls, he said.

The facility’s main contractor was Selapon Sdn Bhd, while PDO Chartered Architects was the consultant of the project.

The Director also stressed the importance of high quality manpower and station management in the effort to achieve fast and efficient emergency service.

In doing so, he explained that the Department has conducted a programme of appraisals and awards, for which a special event, the Award Presenting Ceremony for Exemplary Officer and Personnel and Outstanding Fire Station Award, also took place after the official launching of the new fire station.

A total of 45 fire officers, personnel and staff received the awards in appreciation of their service and contribution towards making the mission of the department a success, especially during the year 2014.

He said the Award for Model Fire Station aims to assess and appreciate the performance of every fire station under the Department in all aspects of management from operation, technical, training to administration. He said that there is an overall improvement from previous years. However, he added there is still much room for further improvement and performance enhancement programmes will be conducted on the basis of the findings of the assessment for this year’s awards.

-Sally Piri

The Brunei Times