By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, Nov 17: Three families living in dilapidated and unsafe wooden houses for years can now sigh with relief after their prayers for better living conditions have been answered.
With the help of state Fire and Rescue Department (Bomba) personnel, Julia Suip from Kuala Baram, Mohd Yahya Abdullah@Pakeh Sam from Lutong and Salleh Amban from Bintangor and their families no longer have to place buckets on the floor or climb to the top of their roofs to plug the leaks whenever it rains.
They are one of the National Blue Ocean Strategy (NBOS) program recipients as they were registered as hardcore poor under e-kasih.
Miri Bomba chief Law Poh Kiong said the department provides the necessities to repair the identified houses at a maximum allocation of RM15,000 per house.
“The projects are carried out through ‘gotong-royong’ by our personnel who are skilled not only in firefighting or search and rescue, but also in carpentry,” Law told DayakDaily.
In Miri, both projects started on Nov 12. They are expected to complete all repairs by Nov 25.
Law said among those personnel involved in the restoration for Julia’s house are Abg Muhd Fhazil Abg Abdul Manaf, Faizal Mohamad, Aloyses Ganang, Giman Ngayong and Dyloly Edward.
Another team made up of Nasir Razali, Zulkernain Jon, Nicklus Jambal Salleh, Willy Dona and Affindi Seruji are currently repairing Mohd Yahya’s house.
Law added that since 2015, a total of eight houses had been repaired and two were rebuilt under Bomba Zone 6 (Miri).
The selection of beneficiaries is based on several criteria: being registered as poor or very poor in eKasih, having dependents, that they have not received repair assistance and whether the damage can be repaired.
Meanwhile, over in Bintangor, Bomba Sibu (Zone 4) fire chief Misran Bisara recently ‘handed’ over the newly repaired house to Salleh and his family.
The repair work commenced on Oct 15. It was completed in 12 days with the total strength of 12 personnel from Bintangor, Sibu, Sungai Merah and Sarikei stations.
Among the repairs made were kitchen flooring, windows, doors, painting, roofing and wiring.
“We have officially handed over the house to the family and we would like to share the joy of having a newly repaired house with them,” Misran said, adding that the ceremony was also attended by several fire station chiefs Nicholas Belulin (Bintangor), Alimat Sam (Sungai Merah), Suna Kaha (Sarikei) and Arrahman Chik (Kanowit). — DayakDaily
