By Nancy Nais
KUCHING, Mar 5: “I am very touched but I don’t know how to elaborate it further,” elderly woman Voon Kui Fah said softly as she looked at her new house.
Today, Voon, 79, received her newly built house from Batu Kitang assemblyman Lo Khere Chiang in a simple but memorable ceremony at Batu 10, Jalan Penrissen here.
Her son Ng Thien Poh, 58, said their dilapidated house which they have lived for over 40 years is just about 10 feet away.
“My father is ill and currently admitted in Sarawak General Hospital due to water retention in his lungs. I take up odd jobs to support my family while my wife Lee Chiew Ling, 43, stays at home to look after my parents.
“My five other siblings have moved out after they got married and they need to support their own family,” Ng said.
Thanking everybody especially Lo and his team from JKKK Kota Padawan, Ng further said now they do not need to worry whenever it rains.
Their old house, particularly the roof collapsed during the recent heavy rain in February which caused flash flood in the area.
“We experienced flood as high as our waist. This house is already old and a lot of our household items were destroyed.
“Hence, when Lo and his team came to assist us, it felt like a fortune for us,” Ng added.
Thanking the JKKK Kota Padawan team as well as Rela volunteers, Lo commented, “I am pleased and ever grateful that our officers have the heart to implement the programme in our areas apart from carrying out their normal tasks and ‘core business’. They did the house building on a voluntarily basis during the weekends.”
It took the team about two weeks to complete the house which was identified under the Sarawak government ’Minor Rural Project (MRP)- House Repair for the Poor’ programme which cost about RM30,000.
The programme is one of the government’s initiatives to improve the wellbeing of the people by repairing their houses that are in poor condition or rebuilding new ones.
He thanked the Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) state government under the leadership of Chief Minister Datuk Patinggi Abang Johari Tun Openg for providing the necessary funds to assist the needy throughout the state.
“It is only with these kinds of projects and allocations that we are able to help the people in our constituencies,” Lo added. — DayakDaily
