Gated and guarded communities must not have objects obstructing firemen

Star Metro, Tuesday August 24, 2010
By CHARLES FERNANDEZ


RESIDENTS associations are setting up gated and guarded communities and the Fire and Rescue Services Department has no problems with it as long as they are not a hindrance in the event of an emergency.


There are no ministry guidelines on such schemes and the rules and regulations differ from one local government to another.


However last month, a set of guidelines were drafted to plan, control and monitor the development of gated and guarded communities by the Housing and Local Government Ministry.


The guidelines were drawn by the Urban and Rural Planning Department and the Cabinet is considering enforcing the guidelines throughout Peninsular Malaysia. The draft would include detailed aspects of planning and monitoring of gated community schemes in line with the Strata Titles Act 1985 (Amendment 2006) as well as for “guarded neighbourhoods”.


In the meantime, the government will not stop anyone from creating a gated community with guards but once the draft is in place, such schemes would have to follow conditions and regulations stipulated by the ministry.


Fire and Rescue Department Malaysia (Inspectorate Unit, Corporate Management and PR Division Senior) Superintendent II, Gan Hock Seong said the department had no objections but it would help if the residents associations discussed plans with the department before setting up such schemes.


He said now the discussion was with the developers but there were certain problems in gated communities that could hinder the department from carrying out their jobs in the event of a fire.


Gan said for example, the erection of boom gates and horizontal bars might cause a problem if they were not built to specifications as the recommended height is 16ft to allow their biggest vehicle to pass through.


“In such instances we can use our hydraulic tools to remove them but we could have responded faster if there were no such hindrances,’’ he added.


Gan said gated and guarded communities were something new and although there were no guidelines set by the Fire and Rescue Department, the residents associations could work with them to follow simple guidelines for a win-win situation.


In Selangor, for instance, 85% of the residents must agree for a guarded neighbourhood whereas a gated community needs 100%.


“This would help the department to reduce the loss of response time as obstacles and other hindrances could cause big losses in the event of a major fire,’’ said Gan.


He said although the department was equipped with the tools to remove obstacles such as boom gates, in most cases narrow access roads and security booths in old developments, which were not built to specifications, obstructed vehicle movement.


“In the event of a fire at high-rise buildings, the department would use the sky-lift and it would pose problems if the access roads are not wide enough,’’ said Gan.


Such schemes, he said, should not hinder vehicles from entering the area by putting up barricades and obstructions that were critical to response time.


Gan said under such circumstances, the department could issue the fire-hazard abatement notice under Section 8 of the Fire and Rescue Act to absolve them of any damages caused by the delay.


He said new developments were required to be designed with the minimum hazard or risks and this was provided for under the Uniform Building By-laws.


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