Tiong wants meeting with SIP factories on improving safety

BINTULU (Nov 19): The Resident’s Office here has been urged to convene a special meeting with all factories operating within the Samalaju Industrial Park (SIP) to discuss on improving their industrial safety management, said Datuk Seri Tiong King Sing.

The Bintulu MP said he hoped the meeting would be called by the end of this month or early next month, adding he would personally attend to oversee the proceedings.

“All factories within Samalaju Industrial Park must take part to improve their industrial safety management.

“The aim is to ensure these factories implement robust safety mechanisms and establish comprehensive crisis response protocols,” he said in a statement yesterday, adding this would enable all parties to quickly respond to incidents, preventing the situation from escalating further.

Tiong, who is Tourism, Arts and Culture Minister, said this in response to Sunday’s fire and explosion at OM Materials Sarawak’s furnace workshop in SIP, which was the third such incident at the industrial park this year.

He said while it was fortunate there were no casualties in this latest incident, the repeated industrial accidents have sparked widespread public concern.

“The community is increasingly anxious and has begun to question the safety mechanisms, crisis prevention and response measures of the large factories operating in the area.”

In this regard, Tiong called on all factories operating in SIP to give utmost priority to operational safety, thoroughly reviewing their current systems to identify any potential vulnerabilities.

“While Bintulu welcomes enterprises to set up operations and invest in our region, we will not tolerate any threats to the safety of our residents.

“I also remind factory management and business owners that while reaping their business profits, they must also invest in establishing comprehensive safety mechanisms,” he said.

Tiong said any operational risks must be scientifically and systematically identified and eliminated, with the safety of employees and the public placed as the highest priority.