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GEORGE TOWN – Penang offered immediate help to a family that have been living in a car for the past eight months after a fire razed their home, but was rejected as they wanted to move in with a relative.
State Welfare, Caring Society and Environment Committee chairman Phee Boon Poh in a statement said the family were given assistance from welfare authorities the night that their Carnarvon Street residence was destroyed.
“The offer of temporary accommodation came from the state Welfare Department and the southwest District and Land Office, but we learnt that the offer was turned down because they (the family) expressed an intention to move in with a relative in Air Itam.”
The family did not contact the state government after their plight was raised by the Penang Hindu Association (PHA) through the media.
Penang has since sent a welfare officer to investigate the matter.
Yesterday, the state delivered a food basket to the family, and pledged a monthly assistance.
The office of state Housing, Local Government and Town Planning Committee chairman Jagdeep Singh Deo has also handed over a key to a low-cost home for the family to stay in temporarily.
PHA president P. Murugiah expressed gratitude that help has finally come, but said he is dismayed that the family had been forced to wait eight months.
“I was informed that the family, for the past eight months, had applied for state assistance to find a house.”
S. Ganesh, who works as a school security guard, relayed his family’s woes after being convinced by Murugiah.
Ganesh told the press that his family have been living in a Proton Iswara because his monthly salary of RM1,200 is inadequate to meet household commitments and living costs after the April blaze.
The car is parked along Jalan Sepoy Lines near Padang Polo, and the family use the public washroom there.
At times, Ganesh would park the vehicle at SK Jalan Residensi, where he works, as it is fenced up.
However, he was advised by the school administrators not to do so when pupils are around.
He and his wife live in the car with their three children, aged 6 and 3 years, and 8 months.
Ganesh cooks using a battery-powered stove, preparing basic meals of rice with soy sauce, noodles and vegetables, with the car boot converted into a sleeping area for the family.
Assistance came yesterday from celebrity preacher Ebit Lew.
In a Facebook post, Ebit shared pictures of him taking the family out to buy necessities. He also rented a house for them.
He gifted the family household items as well, including a refrigerator, washing machine, television, rice cooker, stove, fans and beds. – The Vibes, December 26, 2020
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