Human Rights Party (HRP) has written a letter to the Penang Chief Minister requesting the state government to rebuild the houses of two fire victims in Kampung Manis, Prai.
In the letter dated Nov 23, HRP national advisor N.Ganesan has explained to Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng that the wooden houses belonging to A Muniandy, 57, and M Varatharaju, 44, were completely razed by the fire at 4pm on last Wednesday.
Another neighbouring house belonging to M Gunalan, 42, was partly destroyed by the fire, which was allegedly caused by a power trip.
‘The Pakatan Rakyat state government has often stated that it was a pro-poor government and its basic policy was to allot public funds and resources to meet people’s basic needs.
“Here is a case clear of need,” he told newsmen at Komtar after handing over the letter to a representative sent by Lim’s political secretary Ng Wei Aik.
Last Thursday, Muniandy and Varatharaju have received immediate cash aid of RM2,000 per family from Deputy Chief Minister 2 P Ramasamy, who is also Prai assemblyperson.
Thanking Ramasamy for the contribution, Muniandy and Varatharaju said that they were keen to stay put in their village home and wanted the state government to allocate sufficient funds to them to rebuild their homes.
“We don’t want to move elsewhere. This village has been our home for years.
“We just need some funds to rebuild our homes.
“Hope the state government would grant our humble pleas,” the duo told newsmen.
The duo’s families are currently sheltering in a nearby community hall.
The victims estimated that their loss of properties was RM30,000 each in the fire.
Muniandy has a wife and five children while Varatharaju has a wife and three children.
‘We hope the state government would look into our request favourably,” said the fire victims, who accompanied Ganesan.
In his letter, Ganesan argued that both Muniandy and Varathraju were odd-job workers earning between RM600 to RM1,000 per month.
‘Their incomes are barely enough to support their families under normal circumstances.
“We have two Penang families from lowest rung of our society.
“They were already operating under poverty and found their lives further devastated by this fire.
“We would like to request the Penang government to allocate financial aid to them to rebuild their homes in their hours of need.
“Such assistance is not unprecedented as this had been done before for fire and tsunami victims,” said Ganesan.
When contacted, Ramasamy said he would like look into the HRP request and assist the villagers in whatever possible way.
“The state government will not shirk its responsibility.
“We will try to help the victims according to our financial resources,” he told Malaysiakini.
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