SANDAKAN – A total of 655 victims from 114 families who lost their homes in Kg Forest here to a high tide last weekend now have a month to find new places to stay.
The victims were relocated from a temporary relief centre in SK Sg Anib here to homes at two People’s Housing Projects (PPR) today and are allowed to stay there until January 31.
They were moved as the school session will start on January 3.
Sandakan district Disaster Management Committee (DMC) secretary cum Sandakan Civil Defence Force officer, Abdullah Sabaruddin, said the victims are divided into two groups – Malaysians and non-citizens.
A total of 311 locals (67 families) have been relocated to PPR Batu Putih Mile 7 where each family will be staying at a unit.
PPR Batu Putih is a completed project but was used as a Covid-19 quarantine centre in 2020 and 2021 before the owners moved in.
The PPR’s facilities are said to be faulty after a couple of years used as a quarantine centre and now need repair.
Another 344 foreigners will be staying in tents set up in PPR Taman Harmoni’s hall, Mile 3.
“The decision (to relocate the victims and to allow them to stay for a month) was made during the Sandakan DMC committee’s meeting yesterday.
“The committee, including the Welfare Department, will be preparing food for the victims in PPR Batu Putih (for locals), while Sandakan Municipal Council is in charge of the welfare of the victims in PPR Taman Harmoni,” he said at a press conference in SK Sg Anib, today.
On December 24, 25, and 26, the Kg Forest squatter settlement was hit by a high tide that destroyed 108 houses, leaving 126 families homeless. – The Vibes, December 31, 2022
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