February 3, 2020
Q&A on fire safety prevention industry in Cambodia
When the National Quality Inspection Centre for Fire Equipment NICE) and National Fire Academy of Cambodia (NFAC) launched in mid-January, it was hailed as the first such facility to be established in the Kingdom.
The two centres, which are to be managed by the General Commissariat of the National Police and operated by the Cambodian Fairwind Enterprises Co Ltd, have been created with the aim of improving fire prevention in the country at a time of booming construction. Khmer Times’ Chhut Bunthoeun asked Andrew Wallace, director of their Compliance Consulting Departments, to elaborate further.
KT: Could you tell us about the background of the NICE-NFAC creation?
AW: Under the chairmanship of Oknha Wang Kitman, Cambodia Fairwind Enterprise Company Limited (CFE) signed a contract with the National Police of the Ministry of Interior to establish a total of five national centres for the purpose of fire prevention, training and investigation in Cambodia. Two of these specialised technical resource centres are NICE, which have the responsibility for testing and certifying firefighting materials and equipment under its team of International professionals that have brought experience from all over the world, including the UK, other European countries, the US and China.
The NFAC will provide training and certification to a national curriculum that is consistent and based on international standards for the first time in Cambodia. The training will be undertaken by international experts, so that the Cambodian people can receive the best expertise and skills available from around the world, but tailored to the situation in Cambodia.
KT: What brought fire safety and fighting to your attention in Cambodia? Is it at the development stage or is it still poor? And how are NICE and NFAC are going to improve the development of the fire protection industry in the country?
AW: I have lived in Cambodia for more than a decade and visited the country many times in the decade before that. It has long been apparent to me that Cambodia has lagged behind other countries in its development of fire prevention, equipment and skills. Things are improving greatly, however – reinforced by comments made by His Excellency Lt Gen Chhay Kim Khoeun, deputy commissioner and spokesman for the General Commissariat of National Police, at the two centres’ launch on Jan 17.
NICE, NFAC and the National Quality Inspection Centre for Fire Safety Systems (NICS), which is the centre responsible for writing the fire safety and prevention national codes and inspecting buildings for compliance, represent big strides forward in the development of fire safety and fire prevention in Cambodia.
KT: Do you think fire safety equipment on sale in the country are of a good standard and how can we be sure they work properly?
AW: Generally, up until now, because there have been inadequate standards, testing or inspections of fire equipment imported and installed in Cambodia, standards have been lower than acceptable for some targets, with only some being adequate, so my concern is that many buildings may have unsafe or unsuitable equipment installed in them, which represents a danger to their occupants and the wider Cambodian public.
KT: The centres’ establishment came amid a boom in constructing high-rise buildings in Cambodia, particularly in Phnom Penh and Sihanoukville. Do you think many have adequate safety systems in place to fight fires properly? Do occupants ignore the systems?
AW: NICS has only just started its inspection duties, so it’s too early to state what percentage of buildings do not comply with the fire safety and prevention national codes and may consequently be unsafe. My own experience and feeling is that it may be a high ratio and there will need to be considerable work to be done to bring buildings up to the standards that would make them fire-safe and easy to evacuate. I don’t think that building owners will ignore the findings of the inspections because it makes no sense. The problem before has been that there was no national standard. Now that we have the fire safety and prevention national codes and an inspection and certification procedure, I am quite sure that building owners will want to comply with them and make their buildings safe. After all, why would you want to make multimillion dollar investments and then risk them burning down?
Full article:
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/50686629/q ... n-cambodia