Fadillah (third left) meets the victims affected by the fire.
KUCHING: A committee will be set up to assist the victims affected by the recent fire in Kampung Sg Bedil Besar here, said Petra Jaya MP Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof.
Fadillah, who is also Gabungan Parti Sarawak (GPS) chief whip, said the committee will be formed together with a team from GPS Samariang headed Datuk Sharifah Hasidah Sayeed Aman Ghazali to discuss on how they can assist in rebuilding the affected houses.
“A committee will be formed alongside Sharifah and the team from (GPS) Samariang to see how we can help to rebuild their houses and decide on the best approach – either through the application the federal or the state government.
“As such, we hope that we can help them as fast as we can,” he told reporters after handing over monetary aid to the victims in Kampung Sungai Bedil Besar, Petra Jaya here today.
Fadillah, expressed his hope that the aid would help lighten the burden suffered by the victims.
The fire that occurred at the village last Monday saw five houses razed by a fire, affecting a total of seven families.
Fadillah hands over the monetary aid to one of the villagers affected by the fire.
When asked to comment on the aging wiring system In old houses, Fadillah said owners of houses of 20 years and above should have a new wiring system installed in their house.
He added that the owners can, at least, contact contractors registered under Sarawak Energy Berhad to have them investigate whether there is a need for their house to have a new wiring system.
He stressed the importance of such efforts, considering that most of old houses including in villages were not covered by insurance.
“If the house is not covered by insurance, claims cannot be made to rebuild a new house – that is why we encourage them to look at the wiring, and also to rebuild the wiring,” he added.
When asked on the kind of mechanism by the state government to assist the villagers in terms of insurance, Fadillah said that the state government is looking for ways to provide fire insurances to those who cannot afford it especially among those in the B40 group.
He remarked that this would be a challenge to the state government sometimes, insurance companies would not want to provide insurance to the old houses.
“In the context of insurances, sometimes insurance companies do not want to insure the old houses – except those that were approved based on the plans as well as having it built in accordance to the standards set by the state government. This is the reason why we are looking for an overall solution.
“Should there are any allocations from the state government to assist in repairing the old houses, which include the electrical wiring repairs, we can help them to avoid fires caused by short circuits and as such,” he added.