Traders lament high cost of bomb scare
By M K Anwar 

Once again the capital was taken by surprise on Thursday by another bomb hoax that targeted the highly commercialised Gadong. It is still unclear who made the 'bomb scare' call and what his or her motives were. This is not the first time such threats were made. There have been a series of so-called 'Anthrax' hoaxes in the city. Law enforcers declined to comment whether these hoaxcalls were related. They said it is still under investigation.

Meanwhile commercial interests in Gadong were visibly irked after these scare tactics by irresponsible elements.

The Gadong area was affected for five hours and for business owners it was a very expensive time frame.

A manager of one of the restaurants affected said that during the 5-hour period, his business had lost about B$3000. "Everything was in the red on that day," he said.

"We lost thousands but the stupid caller only lost a few cents making that irresponsible phone call," said another manager.

Tens of thousands dollars are said to have been lost in the 5-hour ordeal by several trading outlets in the area.

Not only were the businesses at the Centrepoint building affected, those surrounding it were also hit. When the news spread about the bomb threat, people were reluctant to come to the vicinity.

The Centrepoint building holds various commercial businesses including supermarkets, music stores, cafes, restaurants and a bank.

"It is very sickening and frustrating," said Ida, a UBD student who at the time was at a restaurant when they were ushered outside to safety. Some covered their noses and mouths thinking that it was something to do with the SARS epidemic during the evacuation of the building.

It was not only the locals that were affected during the bomb scare, but tourists who were staying there were quite restless too, when the threat came. To ensure comfort and safety of their customers, the Centrepoint Hotel had to relocate them to Plaza Abdul Razak.

According to sources, the call was reportedly made to the Fire Services Department hotline number around 4.30pm Thursday afternoon claiming a bomb being left in a building in the vicinity of Centrepoint Hotel. It was then that the police were informed and the Centrepoint building was completely evacuated before 5 pm.

The Thursday bomb hoax brings in a total of 9-hoax calls made which invariably caused panic. This hoax was the third time that has targeted the Centrepoint building.

Anyone who makes a hoax telephone call to create public unrest or panic can be convicted to 5 years in jail or fined $100,000 or even both, police have said.

Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin