SHILLONG, March 9: Home Minister Lahkmen Rymbui on Tuesday said the state government is considering the demand to set up a police outpost at Barato village and a fire service station under Laskein Block in West Jaintia Hills.
Replying to a question raised by Mookaiaw MLA, Nujorki Sungoh, during the Question Hour of the Assembly, Rymbui said that the government is aware of the problems faces by the locals of the area. “We are actively considering the demand to set up the police outpost and fire station,” the home minister said, adding that approval has been received for setting up of the fire service station at Raliang.
Earlier, Sungoh informed that the locals need a police outpost at the earliest as Barato falls under Nartiang Police Station, which is 46 km away. “We need the police outpost since the area is prone is criminal activities,” the MLA said.
The MLA also informed that they had sent a proposal to the government for setting up an examination centre at Barato as the village comprises five secondary schools. “But the proposal was not accepted by the Education department since there is no police outpost or any banking institution in the area for storing the question papers,” Sungoh said.
According to him, the students in the area have been facing difficulties as they have to appear for their board examinations at Centres located in Mookyndeng and Shangpung, which are around 37 km away from their village.
Since the nearest fire station is at Jowai, the Constituency is in great need of such a unit within the Block so as to take stock of any fire incidents in the vicinity, the MLA said.
“During 2016-2019, there were 21 cases of fire incidents in my constituency. It takes two hours for the fire tenders to reach from Jowai to the constituency. Everything is burned to ashes by the time the firefighters arrive at the scene,” the Mookaiaw MLA rued.
