KOTA KINABALU: Assistance has been rendered to the fire victims of Kampung Tanjong Kapor, Kudat, Minister of Special Tasks, Datuk Teo Chee Kang, said.
According to Teo, who is also Tanjong Kapor assemblyman, 276 household heads from the village have registered with the authorities.
He disclosed that the pre-dawn fire on Saturday left more than 1,000 people in the squatter colony homeless.
“So far, the household heads have received cash assistance of RM300 and I would like to appeal to the corporate bodies as well as mega companies to come forward with assistance for the fire victims,” he said.
The Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) president told reporters this after presenting Raya goodies from the party to the state police contingent at its headquarters in Kepayan yesterday. The goodies were received by State Police Commissioner Datuk Abdul Rashid Harun.
“The government has plans to relocate the squatters from the area and the Tanjong Kapor community development leader unit has conducted a census on all the villages along the coastal area. These included Kampung Tanjong Kapor, Kampung Pengaraban, Kampung Pantai Bahagia and Kampung Muhibbah.
The site identified for the resettlement of the squatters is at Kampung Gumpah, also in Kudat, he said, adding that basic infrastructure such as water and electricity supply as well as road and bridge must first be put in place before the relocation.
According to Teo, so far more than 200 lots have been distributed through balloting but it was still not enough as there are many still residing in squatter areas.
“We therefore need more allocation either from the state or federal government to help develop the area which can accommodate about 2,000 lots,” he pointed out.
Currently, the fire victims are using the village’s futsal court as their temporary shelter, Teo said.
The Civil Defence Department had distributed cubicles to the families involved but it was not enough, he disclosed.
Teo also said that the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department, Datuk Seri Shahidan Kassim, is scheduled to visit Kudat on June 30 to distribute financial aid to the Kampung Landung Ayang fire victims.
“It is our hope that he can also arrange for similar assistance to be given to the Kampung Tanjong Kapor fire victims,” he said.