THE night before my arrival in Kuching, Sarawak, (Dec. 22, 2009) to celebrate Christmas there, six shop houses at Gambier Street were destroyed by fire that started at around 8.47pm.
Six fire engines and 48 firemen fought the fire and brought it under control by 11.30pm, preventing it from spreading to other buildings, part of 47 double and three-storey historical shops that date back to the pre-Brooke era.
Sarawak Museum’s assistant director and curator Dr Charles Leh, was reported to have said that these Gambier Street shop houses were built by Chinese settlers before James Brooke arrived in Sarawak in 1839.
“The buildings are very significant. Their architecture is very similar to those historical buildings found in Penang and Malacca, and bears strong resemblance to Indo-Chinese design,” he told the Star.
Dr Leh said the shop houses had not been gazetted as historical buildings because their owners were not interested in doing so, despite a proposal by the authorities many years ago.
However, several other buildings in the vicinity, including the old court house (now known as the Sarawak Tourism Complex) and the Square Tower, were gazetted as historical buildings.
Gambier Street, located within the redevelopment area designated by the government, is renowned for Indian-Muslim owned shops selling curry powder, spices, onions, garlic, shallots and various types of nuts imported from India.
JOE LEONG
A stone’s throw away was a popular wet market, built in 1820, demolished early in 2009 to make way for the Kuching waterfront beautification project.
According to a report by the Eastern Times, the fire started at the Fabric Accessories House in the centre of the block. The blaze engulfed shop houses on the both sides until it was put down.
A massive crowd gathered at the scene of the fire, and many reportedly groaned when low water pressure initially hampered fire-fighting efforts.
State Tourism and Heritage Minister, Tan Sri Dr George Chan Hong Nam, urged owners of the burnt shop houses to take into consideration the tourism needs of the state when rebuilding their property.
Chan said the ministry would assist them to renovate the buildings as part of the Kuching Waterfront expansion scheme.
“This is a good opportunity to turn this disaster into something positive and the government can help to get them back to business as soon as possible,” he added.
When I visited the site after Christmas, I found this section of the busy street being cordoned off and Rela and police officials were keeping a watchful eye at the scene.
This shop is just two lots away from the six shophouses totally destroyed by fire and that used to stand at the empty space at right.
Workers at a shop (photo right) that was partially damaged by the fire were seen on Dec. 29 clearing huge piles of debris in preparation for reopening for business.
During the week after the fire, tonnes of debris and waste were cleared and transported away from the affected area.
Meanwhile, 85 workers who lost their jobs in the fire have received relief aid of RM300 each from the state government.
Most of them were employed by the Fabric Accessory House, one of Kuching’s biggest textile outlets, which owned two of the shops destroyed by the Dec. 22 fire.
Other shops that were razed included the Chaw Chuen Supermarket, one-stop discount store ICT Trading Sdn Bhd and sundry shop Khin Siong Huat.
At the same time, the state disaster relief committee handed out relief aid of RM5,000 to each of the six shop house owners and RM3,000 to five others whose shops were partially damaged.
Photo courtesy of The Star
Following the fire, there were various comments made, expressing the need for firefighting equipment and facilities to be upgraded.
Kuching Member of Parliament Chong Chieng Jen was reported to have been “upset with the equipment used by the firemen”.
He said the hoses were leaking and it took almost 20 minutes to start the skylift. By then, the fire had spread to the adjacent shops, he added.
The MP said the state government should upgrade the facilities of the fire stations so that the firemen could do their jobs well.
Total loss in the incident, though still unascertained, is believed to be massive because despite its age, Gambier Street is still a business haven.
However, there were no reports of injuries.
In November 2008, a fire gutted four shop houses in an adjacent block at Gambier Street.
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