SUNGAI BESAR, July 13 ― On the first day of Syawal, a fierce storm woke the villagers of Sungai Besar, Selangor, blowing off roofs and damaging homes. Instead of celebrating the first day of Hari Raya with the rest of the country, 26 residents of several villages in the area were forced to leave their homes.
Yesterday, a fund was launched to help them rebuild their lives. The fund, ‘Tabung Bencana Alam Parlimen Sungai Besar’ is a local Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative which will provide immediate assistance to future natural disaster victims of Sungai Besar.
Roadcare (M) Sdn Bhd a subsidiary of Protasco Bhd, contributed RM100,000.00 to the fund.
Managing Director of Protasco’s Maintenance and Construction Division, Dato’ Sri Muzaffar Syah Abdul Rahman, represented Roadcare and Protasco yesterday and presented the cheque to YB Budiman Mohd Zohdi, Member of Parliament for Sungai Besar.
Part of the funds were channeled to these 26 victims who received financial aid amounting RM500.00 to RM2,000.00, depending on the severity of the damage to their homes.
“We are glad to help those in need. We are not going to stop here, there will be an ongoing effort to help others in Kelantan, Perak and Sarawak,” said Muzaffar.
Budiman, who officiated yesterday’s event said it was a heart-wrenching scene that met his eyes when he arrived at the village in the early hours of 6 July.
“It’s a good effort by the local village representatives to establish this fund as we cannot predict when a disaster will happen again. This way, we will have some funds ready to provide immediate assistance,” he said.
The contribution from Roadcare and Protasco is a continuation of its CSR programme which aims to help build communities. In August last year, Roadcare rebuilt 6 homes for the flood victims in Gua Musang, including three new homes for Orang Asli in Kampung Teranik, an isolated settlement four hours drive outside of Kota Bharu.
