KUCHING, Sept 8 — The fall of the massive Sarawak flag, ‘Ibu Pertiwi’, into the Sarawak River last Monday was not anticipated in the standard operating procedures (SOP) of the Kuching North City Commission (DBKU), said Datuk Abdul Rahman Junaidi.

The state deputy minister of utility and telecommunication explained that the incident was caused by strong winds and a storm, which resulted in the flag’s cable breaking and the flag tearing.

"This incident was not within our decision or part of our SOP that one day the flag will fall off, so it was not in our plans.

"It happened due to strong winds and the storm on that day, and it was found that the flag fell because the cable snapped and it also tore,” he said.

Abdul Rahman, the minister in charge of DBKU, said this to reporters after the monthly flag-raising ceremony at Dataran Ibu Pertiwi here today.

To prevent similar incidents in the future, he said a new SOP has been implemented, requiring the flag to be replaced on the same day or within 24 hours.

"The replacement flag is of higher quality, and the cable has been reinforced for added durability,” he added.

Abdul Rahman said that a new flag was used for the ceremony today, which was graced by state Deputy Premier Datuk Amar Douglas Uggah Embas.

"We provide a new flag every month, so there will be a new flag for our guests each time, including today, and another new flag next month.

"The flag is replaced monthly,” he said, though he did not disclose the cost.

Abdul Rahman also noted that the flags undergo quality checks based on standards observed at Dataran Merdeka in Kuala Lumpur and in Istanbul.

"We have sent our officers to examine the quality of flags used in various cities worldwide. So far, we have reviewed the standards in Kuala Lumpur and Istanbul.

"The flags are currently sourced from overseas, with this one coming from China. Until the time comes that we have entrepreneurs who can produce these flags, please come forward and let us know then we may consider sourcing them from our local suppliers,” he said.

Also present were state Deputy Ministers of Infrastructure and Port Development Datuk Ir Aidel Lariwoo and Datuk Majang Renggi, and Kuching North Datuk Bandar Hilmy Othman. — The Borneo Post