MCA pledges full support to help rebuild houses lost in Karak fire

From left: Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai and Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek visiting housing area which was destroyed in a fire in Pekan Karak, Pahang. -AZHAR MAHFOF/The Star

KARAK: MCA pledges its full support for the rebuilding of the houses in Kampung Baru Cina Karak that were razed on Friday (Oct 1), says Datuk Seri Liow Tiong Lai.

The former MCA president said the party would be giving the victims support in cash and kind.

He added that a special rebuilding committee had requested the party's help in terms of technical and financial support.

"We will go all out to help them. It is important for us to quickly rebuild the victim's houses.

"As you know, we are facing the Covid-19 pandemic and now there is this fire disaster. It's double jeopardy for the victims and we feel sad at their plight," said Liow, who was Bentong MP from 1999 to 2018, during a visit Monday (Oct 4).

Together with Liow were his predecessor Tan Sri Lim Ah Lek and former transport minister Tan Sri Chan Kong Choy, who was born in Bentong.

"We have a bond here. We feel obliged to come in and help them in this difficult time," Liow said.

He also sought help from the district, state, and federal governments to expedite the rebuilding of the houses.

"It is not easy to rebuild the houses because it is an old village. We have a lot of technical issues but we are confident we can overcome this," he said.

Liow said they would also help the victims with fundraising, urging the public to come forward and give them the support they needed during this difficult time.

"We really appreciate the support that has come in," he said, adding that there have been a lot of donations in cash and kind that had already come in.

A fire which started at 9.10pm last Friday destroyed at least 53 houses and eight shops.

Pahang Fire and Rescue Department director Wan Mohammad Zaidi Wan Isa said the close proximity of the houses to each other was believed to have caused the fire to spread quickly.

However, there were no reports of casualties. Firemen in 10 engines managed to bring the fire under control at about 12.10am Saturday (Oct 2).