A BEACON OF HOPE: The view of the SCCS new two-storey building at Lot 5493, Lorong 15, Taman Desa Wira, Batu Kawa 93250, Kuching.
SIBU: Sarawak Children Cancer Society’s (SCCS) new two-storey building in Kuching, costing RM2.6 million has been completed and Occupational Permit (OP) given, bringing a beacon of hope for hard pressed parents and their cancer-stricken children.
Head of building and fund raising committee Raymond Thong said yesterday that they were in the process of furnishing the building and getting ready to move in.
He recalled for years, parents had to bear with the congested and crammed conditions at the temporary centre while their children sought treatment in Kuching.
He lamented that the crammed centre had only three-beds (decked) where families needed to squeeze together for the night while some had to be contended sleeping in the living room.
“A new centre has been built to offer improved facilities and services for these families while seeking treatment at the Sarawak General Hospital (SGH).
“SCCS new centre is located at Lot 5493, Lorong 15, Taman Desa Wira, Batu Kawa 93250, Kuching. The new centre could accommodate up to 13 families at any one time.
“Every room is equipped with two single beds and attached bathrooms to ease the care for patients. The building has been completed and OP given, where we are in the process of furnishing the facility, and getting ready to move in,” Thong told The Borneo Post when asked if the new building had been completed.
Thong added: “The incidence of childhood cancer is on the increase of over 60 cases per year affecting child of even four days old and does not spare our rural folks and the poor and underprivileged.
“Our society has therefore an urgent responsibility and commitment to support the government’s limited cancer treatment facilities to reach out to the poor families in this long dragging and nerve wrecking disease of cancer.”
As such, the new building would solve the overcrowding condition and provide a better living condition for the parents and their cancer-stricken children, he said.
He revealed that the two-storey building would also house an administrative office, a children’s recreation area and a functions/conference room.
Asked where the patients were from, Thong related some came from Kapit and others, as far as Long Lama, adding that there were also those from the neighbouring country.
Many, he lamented, could not afford to pay for their accommodation where they needed to come down to Kuching frequently.
“To alleviate their suffering and financial burden, the centre besides providing free accommodation, also provides free meals to take the pressure off the parents, whose children are undergoing treatment in SGH,” he pointed out.
Thong lamented that without the comfort and convenience of the centre, these families would be hard pressed to pay for their accommodation and food.
“In childhood cancer, early detection is most important as patients could be better treated,” he noted.