All she wants for Raya is a proper house
JOHOR BARU: All Rogayah Unos
(pic) wants this Hari Raya is a proper home for her family, not the porch of a dilapidated wooden house which is the only shelter they have for now.
The family of six – the 54-year-old, her two daughters, son-in-law, and two grandsons aged five and seven – has been sleeping in the cramped 30sq ft area of the house, in Kampung Sungai Tiram near here, for years.
They are unable to sleep inside as the roof of the house was blown off some time ago, and other parts of the structure had leaks. The house belongs to a neighbour.
“Life has been hard since my husband was sent back to Indonesia eight years ago as he did not have valid documents to stay here,” she told reporters yesterday. “My daughters and I clean and peel garlic to earn some money from a supermarket nearby, a mere 10 sen per kilogramme.”
Rogayah said the family receives RM700 in aid monthly from the state Welfare Department but were unable to rent a house in the area.
“The owner of the house will not allow us to make repairs as it is an ancestral home and has sentimental value,” she said.
Rogayah added that the rental in the area is too high, between RM500 and RM1,000 and they needed to stay nearby because her son-inlaw, who works at a car wash, is afraid he will not be able to get a job if they move away.
“We are able to clean and peel about 30kg of garlic a day ... we only get about RM90 a month,” she said, adding that her daughters, aged 15 and 20, had never received any formal education.
The Econsave supermarket chain came to the family’s aid after learning of their plight, presenting them with mattresses, pillows and blankets as well as basic necessities worth RM500 for Hari Raya.
Its Johor operations manager Mas Imran Adam said the supermarket was also willing to help the family further if they could find a new home.
“If the authorities can help them to get a unit at the People’s Housing Project in Pasir Gudang, we can help them get jobs at the Econsave nearby,” he added.