Little Siti is able to be on her own without the help of a ventilator for a few hours
TUARAN: Members of family of five-year-old Siti Aryani Zainah are urging the government to respond to their application for a new house under the Hardcore Poor Housing Project (PPRT) so that she can be discharged from the hospital.
Siti, the fourth child in the family, the eldest aged 12 and the youngest aged three, was born on August 24 2008. She was diagnosed with Vitamin D dependent Rickets type 2+ and chronic respiratory lung disease, making her dependent on the ventilator in order to survive.
She was admitted to the Women and Children’s Hospital Sabah in Likas on October 2008 and was declared stable enough to be discharged since August 2009.
However, the issue preventing her from being discharged was the wooden house that the family lived in at Kampung Melalin, Tuaran, which has no access to electricity for the ventilator and violated the safety regulations of owning a ventilator in a flammable area.
The house built by Zainah, Siti’s father.
According to Ooi Kong Eow, full-time volunteer (patients care and social concern) for Agape Care and Crisis Relief Services Association of Sabah, the father, Zainah, along with another female friend, went to a government officer’s house in September 2009 to apply for a PPRT house but they were asked to wait for another year because there was no more allocation for 2009.
During early 2010, the family was given the same answer. Then on February 9 the same year, an aide to the government officer asked again for the relevant documents from the parents for applying the PPRT house. They were also asked to prepare the site for the PPRT house, so they demolished the wooden house the family was staying in.
After submitting the documents required, doctors from the hospital called the aide almost every week to confirm the status of the PPRT house. However, they were given the same answer, “Tunggu (wait), no allocation yet,” until the doctors gave up.
Eventually in 2011, Zainah decided to build the house himself but because of the financial situation, it took more than a year to finish an incomplete 16′ by 20′ house with no kitchen, toilet, power and water supply.
“In early 2011, I helped the family to apply for a PPRT flat and the Tuaran District Officer approved the application within three months. Sadly, the unit approved was on the second floor because the ground floor units were unavailable, and a handicapped or sickly person is not permitted to stay on any floors except the ground floor for practical and convenience purposes.
“The family still needs around RM10,000 to extend and complete the house with access to power and water supply. Zainab is the sole breadwinner of the family of seven and works as a sundry worker in a factory, earning between RM400-RM500 a month, therefore any help given to relieve the burden would greatly be appreciated,” Ooi said.
He added that his intention to highlight this story was for the government to take the necessary steps to help Siti and her family.
“I also urge the public or any organisations to help in any way they can so that Siti can finally return to stay with her family after being admitted in the hospital since 2008. She can go on for a few hours without the aid of a ventilator now, which is an improvement,” he commented.
For those who are keen on helping Siti’s family, please contact Ooi Kong Eow at 017-8954929. Members of Siti’s family now live with her grandmother in the same village.