FEWER KNEE-JERK REACTIONS NEEDED
AFTER the deadly Grenfell Tower fire in West London last year, I had raised my concern that similar incidents might also occur in our country.
The tragedy in the early hours of June 14 had killed 71 people, including children, and injured at least 70 people.
It pains me to watch and read the news on local residents marching silently through the streets of London on the 14th of every month, in tribute to those who lost their lives in the Grenfell Tower fire.
I believe that if such fires could happen in a developed country like the United Kingdom, which has prided itself with having a good fire protection record, what more in developing countries like Malaysia.
The investigations by the London authorities revealed that more than 100 high-rise buildings in 37 areas in the country are also covered in similar flammable materials.
The Grenfell Tower disaster should have been a good lesson to us in terms of fire prevention.
Unfortunately, our habitual attitude to react only when an accident or tragedy occurs has again failed us when initial investigation revealed that the fire at the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) building in Petaling Jaya on Tuesday was due to the use of polyfoam or polyethylene as a cladding material, similar to what was used in Grenfell Tower.
While welcoming the Fire and Rescue Department’s effort to conduct checks on buildings nationwide, I urge all building owners to help the department identify if they are using flammable material in their structure.
Those using flammable material should replace it with suitable and approved cladding material.
Those with information on the materials used for the construction of a building, particularly its owner, the contractor and the local authorities, should come forward to assist the Fire and Rescue Department by identifying the affected buildings as otherwise it would be difficult for the department to carry out such checks which would involve thousands of buildings nationwide.
All of them must be accountable and share the responsibility to help ensure the safety of those working or living in their buildings.
Although the Fire and Rescue Department does not have the exact number of buildings using poly foam cladding or façade, Urban Wellbeing, Housing and Local Government Minister Tan Sri Noh Omar had, in July last year, revealed that more than onetenth of buildings inspected nationwide did not meet fire safety standards.
He was quoted as saying that more than 3,000, or about 13 per cent, out of 23,282 buildings inspected since 2016 were at risk of catching fire.
He had also called on states that had yet to adopt the fire safety by-laws that were passed in 2012 to do so for the benefit and safety of the people.
It was reported that only Sabah, Selangor, Terengganu and Penang had gazetted the Uniform Building By-Laws 1984 (Amendment 2012) to better protect those living in both high-rise and low-rise homes in the country. Sarawak has its own building ordinance.
Under the by-laws, all residential buildings above 30m or 10 storeys built after 2012 must have fire detectors while low-rise homes below 18m built after 2012 must be equipped with fire extinguishers.
New house buyers also have the right to ask their developers for a fire extinguisher in states that have adopted the by-laws.
Based on my years of observation, our interest and awareness to act and make amends can only be seen in the first few weeks after an issue has arisen or a tragedy had happened before it dissipates and is eventually forgotten until the next disaster occurs.
It is tantamount to a Malay proverb “hangat hangat tahi ayam” which means not doing something wholeheartedly, consistently and continuously.
This attitude is aptly explained in another Malay proverb “sudah terhantuk baru terngadah” which means trying to stop something bad from happening when it has already happened as in an English idiom “to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted”.
Very often, after an incident, we hear calls for investigation but in most, if not all, cases the outcome of the investigation is not made known except when carried out by a Royal Commission of Inquiry.
What is deplorable is that we do not seem to have learnt from the previous tragedy.
If we fail to discard such a negative attitude, we will continue to face accidents, tragedies and disasters that may claim more lives and limbs.
Those who design and build structures should embrace fire protection as a fundamental consideration in their work, even in the absence of strong governmental oversight.
The relevant parties must also find the solution on the issue raised by our Fire and Rescue Department that low-quality aluminum composite panels used by contractors nationwide could become a fire hazard.
The authorities should also review existing fire safety rules and regulations and implement updated legislation to compel regular safety checks and audits.
All these are essential since fires in Malaysia had killed 107 people and injured another 477 victims nationwide in 2016. In 2015, the number of deaths from fire incidents stood at 153 while 467 people were also injured.
According to the Fire and Rescue Department, on average, about 6,000 premises nationwide were destroyed by fires and about 40 per cent of them were private homes, while the remaining were offices, factories, schools, and shophouses.
We should not wait for something worse than the EPF building incident to happen in Malaysia before we act.
We must always opt for a total preventive culture instead of being reactive most of the time.