By Alen Kee
Tawau fire victims prohibited from rebuilding houses
TAWAU: The Kampung Hidayat fire victims will not be allowed to rebuild their houses at the same site as it is government policy to reduce water villages due to security reasons.
Tawau Municipal Council (TMC) president Alijus Sipil, after chairing the Natural Disaster Committee meeting yesterday, said the victims could only rebuild their houses at the site if the government decided otherwise.
He said at the moment the victims would not be allowed to do so due to the policy.
Meanwhile, Alijus said 170 Malaysian families consisting of 1,141 victims and 91 non-Malaysian families consisting of 819 victims had been recorded.
He added that 253 houses were destroyed involving 1,960 victims during the fire on Saturday.
Alijus said all the houses involved were not registered with the Sabah Electricity Sdn Bhd (SESB), thus their electricity connections were illegal, while only 30 water meters were registered with the Water Department.
He said according to the Fire and Rescue Department, the cause of the fire was due to overloading of electricity which started from a vacant house.
He added the role of the committee was to supply cooked food for three days after the incident and thereafter raw food would be supplied and the victims would have to cook the food themselves.
At the moment he said the army did the cooking of the raw food items supplied for the victims, both Malaysians and non-Malaysians.
A contribution centre for collecting and distributing of supplies had been set up at the village head’s house and any contributions could be sent there.
Alijus said the committee also decided that the victims would be shifted to a temporary settlement at Mile 2 Apas Road where they would be allowed to stay for three months in the tents available.
The victims would be relocated to Mile 4 only if there was available land, he added.
Alijus said the committee was also trying to get contribution from the National Disaster Centre for the supply of towels and tents.