Government hands over donation to two families of Batang Kali landslide victims

The donations, to two families, were presented by the Prime Minister's senior political secretary Datuk Seri Shamsul Iskandar Md Akin in Kampung Machap Baru here.

One of the recipients is Lai Hua Kiong, 54, who lost four members of his family in the tragedy, comprising son, Lai Chee Sam, 33, daughter-in-law Lai See Tin, 33 and two grandchildren, six-year-old Giselle Lai Yu Xi and two-year-old Jonas Lai Ze Kai.

The other recipient is Tai Seng Fui, 63, who also lost four family members, son Tai Chang Lin, 35, daughter-in-law Yu Siew Pay, 34, and two grandchildren, seven-year-old Tai Jing Key and four-year-old Tai Jing Rou.

Shamsul Iskandar said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and the government hoped that the donation would help ease the burden of the families concerned.

"The prime minister also conveyed his utmost gratitude to the entire search and rescue (SAR) team for working tirelessly until yesterday (in the search for the victims) and this certainly demands a high level of commitment.

"The prime minister and the government value their efforts and we hope they can be an example to other agencies to be able to work as a team and strive to provide the best service to the people," he told reporters.

Also present were State Unity, Information, Human Resources and Consumer Affairs Committee chairman Ngwe Hee Sem and National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) deputy director-general Datuk Khairul Shahril Idrus.

Meanwhile, Khairul Shahril said the donation would be given depending on the willingness of the next-of-kin of the victim to accept it as there are family members who are still in grief over the incident.

He said the Social Security Organisation (Socso) will also make payments to the next of kin of the victims taking into account the needs of the parties involved.

The tragedy, which occurred last Dec 16, involved 92 people. Sixty-one people were rescued and 32 others, comprising 18 adults and 13 children, killed.