SOME residents are taking extra precautions for the dry season and suggested setting up neighbourhood watch groups, following a recent bushfire which occured at Jalan Muara last Sunday.
Noranisah Hj Rasidi, a 25-year-old living in the Salambigar area of Jalan Muara, expressed her disappointment in people who still conduct open burning.
“It’s very frustating to see and hear that people are still unaware of the health hazards that come with open burning because they’re obviously thinking just for themselves in burning their leaves and tree branches to keep their garden clean but what about the neighbours?” she said.
“I was frightened when I heard that last week’s fire was caused by someone irresponsible who did not properly extinguish their burning.”
Noranisah said that she has spread the word about open burning to her friends and neighbours and made sure that parents were aware of it.
Firefighters at work during the recent bushfire near Jln Muara. Picture: BT file
“We obviously know that word travels fast in Brunei and thankfully, I hope that I’ve gotten the message out to them,” said the 25-year-old.
“My friends and I are actually planning a neighbourhood watch team, not for things like crime as we can rely on the police but for the smaller things like fires, stray animals etc.”
Linda, who hails from America, said that a neighbourhood watch group would come in handy when a crime is committed.
“Back in my country, we usually elect people from our neighbourhood to be part of a neighbourhood watch team where they would look out for things like house break-ins, damage of property and even for this case, bushfires,” said the 32-year-old, who lives near Sungai Hanching.
“Although, we often give these responsibilities to boy scouts as it is part of their duty and dedication but we do have proper adult watchmen who reinforce it when higher authorities can’t attend to us.”
Mohammad Farizali Osman, a Sungai Hanching resident, said that he has taken action as he believes that everyone has to prioritise their safety first in the sight of danger.
“After I heard news that last Sunday’s bushfire had spread all the way from Salambigar, I quickly told my parents about it in my panic state but to my disappointment, they didn’t do anything to resolve the problem,” said the 19-year-old.
“So since I can’t rely on my parents to prevent it from happening again, I made the effort to clean up all the dry leaves, broken branches and all the other flammable things that could catch fire.”
He added that he is not only keeping his house compound clean, but is also helping the environment by not letting the fire spread and emit smoke that will contribute to air pollution.
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