LESS THAN 10% PEOPLE AWARE OF PETROL STATION’S ROLE IN GTSP

SANDAKAN : Less than 10 per cent of people in the country are aware of the petrol station’s role as a one-stop centre for emergency assistance.

Bukit Aman Community Crime Prevention and Safety Department assistant director Datuk Selven Tharmalingam said the petrol station has been enabled through the Go To Safety Point (GTSP) programme since 2013 as it is closer to the community.

“However, the effectiveness of the programme needs to be reviewed. Apart from it being less known by the public, PDRM also found that there are constraints in training the petrol station staff who keep changing.

“This programme is really good because it emphasises the cooperation of the police with the community,” he told reporters when visiting a petrol station which participated in the programme, here today.

Also present was Sandakan Police Chief ACP Mohd Azhar Hamin.

Selven noted that as a one-stop emergency assistance centre, it would provide protection to victims in the event of a crime or accident where the petrol station staff contacted the police or ambulance for further action.

In addition, he said the petrol station operators were also trained by the police to provide counselling and calming the victims seeking temporary protection at their petrol stations.

There are about 3,000 petrol stations registered with PDRM and involved with the GTSP programme and there are 193 petrol stations throughout Sabah.

During the visit, Selven also distributed brochures on the GTSP programme to the public at the petrol station.