IDPs in need of help to buy fire hazard prevention materials and gear

By DMG 30 Mar 2021

DMG Newsroom
30 March 2021, Sittwe

IDP camps in Arakan State are in need of fire hazard prevention accessories, according to officials of the camps and people who provide assistance to the IDPs. 

The Mrauk-U Township Fire Services Department provided some awareness on fire hazard prevention at IDP camps in the township, but the camps do not have fire hazard prevention accessories because they cannot afford to buy them, said Ko Khaing Min Shin, a resident of Mrauk-U who is providing assistance for the IDPs. 

“IDPs are struggling for their livelihoods. So, the camps cannot buy extinguishers. And to prepare for fire hazard prevention by collecting water, it is not easy either because the IDPs have to be thrifty consuming water,” he said. 

Hundreds of shelters were destroyed in a fire at the Tin Nyp IDP camp in Mrauk-U Township on March 17, affecting more than 2,500 IDPs at the camp. 

IDPs in Rathedaung and Kyauktaw townships are also in need of fire hazard prevention accessories, people who aid IDPs said. 

“Our township Fire Services Department told us to place an iron hook and sheet with bamboo poles and sand and water bags to prepare for putting out fire in an emergency. However, we also need extinguishers. We need donors to donate them,” said Ko Bekka, a person who is providing help for IDPs in Rathedaung Township. 

The row housing for many IDPs consists of shelters with bamboo floors and palm leaf roofs, making them particularly combustible under the summer’s heat, said people assisting IDPs. 

U Win Hlaing, deputy staff officer of the Fire Services Department in Arakan State, said the department cannot provide fire hazard prevention accessories for the IDP camps. The department has been providing fire safety awareness at the camps, he added. 

“We mainly provide education about fire safety at IDP camps. We also teach them how to use fire extinguishers,” he said, adding: “We need donors to provide extinguishers for IDP camps.”