Fatal Road Accidents On The Rise In The Sultanate
By Azian Othman

Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei recorded an increase in road traffic deaths last year compared to the year before, Fire Services Department statistics revealed.

Tutong road and highway remain highly accident-prone as most of the emergency calls were received by Tutong's Fire Services branch followed by Bandar and Jerudong branches.

Twenty deaths were recorded in road accidents last year compared to 12 in 2003 and 18 in 2002. Besides road accidents, other deaths included drowning (3), house fire (1) and others (4).

Interestingly, the number of road accident injuries last year was down at 183 compared to 248 the year before.

The Fire Services managed to save around $ 9.7 million worth of properties from building, house, electrical, car fires and others compared to around $7.1 million in 2003. The amount of losses mounted to around $5 million compared to $3.8 million the year before.

There was a drop in the number of emergency calls received at 2,755 last year compared to 3,228 the year before. Berakas Fire Station received the maximum number of calls (676) followed by Bandar (659) and Muara (255).

Besides putting out fires, the department had also provided assistance to the public, including clearing uprooted trees (803), caught animals (619), chased animals (293), fixed tangled flags (133), put off fire alarms (125), released locked rooms (51), attended to jammed lifts (47), removed oil spill (22), flushed out interior of houses inundated by flood water (10), cleaned up compounds (3), boat (1) and was involved in salvage and rescue operation (1).

As for forest and bush fires, 588 calls were received last year compared to 981 the year before while the losses amounted to $16,000 compared to $10,000 the year before.

The department recorded a drop in the number of crank calls (28) last year compared to the year before (47). -- Courtesy of Borneo Bulletin

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