Over RM8,500 raised for plantation, mill workers affected by Lombok quake
BINTULU: Indonesian estate workers from Lombok Utara working at Keresa Plantations Sdn Bhd and Keresa Mill Sdn Bhd were yesterday presented with financial assistance to aid family members affected by the recent earthquake which struck the island.
The 6.9-magnitude quake on Aug 9 has so far claimed over 430 lives and displaced as many as 350,000 people. The death toll is expected to increase as rescuers continue to search rubble strewn across the island.
Senior estate manager Mustamin Suhaili said the company treats its Indonesian workers as family and will strive to ensure their welfare is taken care of.
“After the disaster struck Lombok, we immediately carried out a fundraising drive among all employees at our plantations and palm oil mill.
“Over 99 per cent of our workers in direct operations here are Indonesians. They are our most valuable asset and without them, we would not be able to carry out our operations,” he said after witnessing the handing- over of donations totaling RM8,596 to 33 workers whose families were affected by the quake.
Currently, there are 867 Indonesian workers employed at Keresa’s Sujan and Jiba estates, and palm oil mill here.
Palm oil mill manager P Shailendran R Palpanadan said after receiving updates on what had happened in Lombok, the affected workers were given a day off from work to allow them to contact family members at their respective villages.
“The workers from Lombok Utara are actually our first batch that came to work in the palm oil mill. Some of them have worked here for five years,” he said.
It is understood that two workers from the palm oil mill had each lost a parent in the disaster.
Shailendran added the company will continue to assist its workers in whatever form once they are able to get more information from the affected families.
“Currently, the workers are unable to go home. We have contacted the authorities there who advised us not to send them home yet for at least another two or three weeks,” he added.
Meanwhile, Keresa mill worker Sabirin Selamudin, 20, from Lombok Utara thanked his employer for the fundraising drive to help affected families back home.
“During the disaster, I was unable to contact my family.
“I was able to get through to them the next day and told that my parents and siblings were safe, except for our house which was flattened by the quake,” he said.
His village mate Abdul Wahid Rertawi, 28, said his mother and siblings had also survived the quake but several neighbours were not as fortunate.
“During the incident my sister was inside the house. She had to crawl out through a window to safety as the main door was blocked off by rubble,” he said, adding he and his wife and their seven-year- old son are planning to fly home in December.