Bandung City Government Relys On 2 Prevention Programs In The Aftermath Of Fire Losses Reaches IDR 16.3 Billion Until June 2024

JABAR - The Bandung City Government (Pemkot) through the Bandung City Fire and Disaster Management Service (DiskarPB) is now relying on two programs to anticipate fires in the City of Kembang which caused billions of rupiah in losses.

The two programs are Fire Volunteers (Redkar) and the Environmental Fire Protection System (Springkel).

"These two programs aim to ensure the independence and preparedness of the community in tackling fires," said Head of Prevention of the Bandung City Fire and Disaster Management Service Kurniawan Yusuf who was contacted in Bandung, Sunday, June 23, was confiscated by Antara.

He explained that his party recorded that there were 137 fires in the city of Bandung until June 19, 2024, with details hitting 51 housing times, 22 public buildings, and empty yang-alang/lahan 6 times.

"The cause is for stoves and gas 18 cases, electrical short circuits 35 cases, and 81 cases are still under investigation. Losses in the fire so far are estimated at Rp. 16.3 billion. Then seven people died, and 33 people were injured," he said.

This was also discussed by Yusuf on the occasion that he was a resource person in the West Java Province Journalist Competency Test (UKW) activity in Bandung, Friday, June 21.

He revealed, due to losses caused by fires of up to billions of rupiah and even casualties, the Redkar and Springkel programs are the mainstay of the city government today.

With the Redkar whose function is to counseling on fire prevention, assistance from the fire squad, to assistance from communication and information teams, Yusuf said, it is hoped that it can create a good fire anticipation system in Bandung.

In fact, he continued, with the current 525 volunteers recorded in 151 urban villages, it has had a significant effect.

"The results in some areas feel that fires can be maintained. In 2024, it will be added for recruitment and technical guidance," he said.

Meanwhile, for the environmental fire protection system (Springkel), it has a model of an environmental fire station with the use of water sources in people's homes.

With the use of residents' water and the provision of jinjing pumps, it functions as a fire extinguisher in dense areas that are difficult to reach by fire trucks.

"Last year the springkel program ran around 200 RWs, and this year it is planned to add 100 more RWs. This is all from the APBD. With this, it is hoped that it can become a long-term fire solution in Bandung," he said.

West Java Province UKW on June 21-22, 2024 itself, is a class 71 Press Council program held in West Java, followed by 24 participants from West Java PWI, in two certification levels, namely the Young (six people) level, and the Madya (18 people) level.

In the UKW which was held in Bandung, the participants were tested by the test team containing four people, namely Refa Riana (coordinator), Suherlan, Wawan Djuwarna, and Erwin Kustiman who would assess the competence of journalists on 10 test items with predetermined assessment standards.

As a result, the number declared competent in the West Java PWI UKW was 20 people, with details of six people at the Young level all competent, 18 people at the Madya level were declared competent. Meanwhile, three people were declared incompetent, and one other person was declared dead on the grounds of illness in the middle of a competency test.