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SANDAKAN – Victims who lost their homes at Kg Forest here on Christmas Eve are now busy looking for reusable items among piles of remains of their destroyed homes.
Men could be seen carrying heavy items such as wood and zinc roofs, while women search for smaller items such as clothes and kitchen utensils.
A total of 70 houses in this squatter village were destroyed by high tide on December 24. Another 38 houses were destroyed last night.
As the villagers had already been warned by police to evacuate their homes, no casualties were reported from the incident.
The unusual high tide phenomenon, however, had left 96 families homeless, with 684 victims currently staying at a temporary relief centre in SK Sg Anib near the area.
A 36-year-old mother of seven, Maurin Abdul Dasin, was rummaging through a pile of debris when she suddenly cheered – she had managed to recover a framed wedding photograph of her sister.
“Yesterday, I found mine. Today, I found my sister’s (wedding) picture! She is going to be so happy,” she said.
Maurin’s cheerful expression, however, quickly disappeared when she shared the pain of losing her home, which had housed valuable memories with her late mother-in-law.
“Sure, if the government offered us to stay in PPR (People’s Housing Project), we would be happy. But I am still sad that all my memories of the house are now all gone. I still cannot believe it is gone,” she said.
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She is also worried about having lost all of her kids’ school supplies, as school is starting soon on January 3.
“I managed to save only one item for school – my son’s necktie – and I blame myself for not taking more items with me when we left the house,” she said.
Maurin said none of the villagers expected that their houses were going to collapse when they were instructed to evacuate on Saturday evening.
She said they thought that they will be returning home at around 2am after the situation is safe, as it had happened multiple times before.
“Everyone only took self-identification documents and left. We didn’t know that it would be the last time that we would see our house,” she said.
Muslimin Basanun, 70, also found pictures of his sons and grandchildren, along with his son’s school certificates. His son is now in his 30s.
They were stored in luggages, which were then washed to the shore and were only found today.
“My son asked me to throw these away. I said no. I remember how happy he was bringing these (certificates) home when he was young.
“They are wet, but we can still dry them,” he said.
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Meanwhile, another victim, Haji Mohamad Dalil, 59 said that after losing his home, he is now afraid to live near the sea.
“We hope the government can provide us with a place to stay, or if not, at least a piece of land for us to build houses.
“We just want a roof over our heads, but I no longer dare to risk the lives of my grandchildren living near the sea,” he said.
Yesterday, Sandakan MP Vivian Wong said that she will be speaking to the Sandakan Municipal Council to arrange for the victims to live in empty PPR units temporarily until a permanent solution is found.
Kg Forest is a squatter settlement, with its residents comprising a mix of locals and migrants.
Sandakan district police chief Abdul Fuad Abdul Malek said that 11 officers and 96 security personnel have been dispatched to inspect the situation in Kg Forest.
He said all the residents have obeyed instructions to vacate their homes by 6pm daily, which was why no casualty was reported.
“We are expecting a high tide every night until December 28. All residents in Sandakan who live in the coastal area are asked to vacate their homes by 6pm,” he said. – The Vibes, December 26, 2022
