Transit homes for landslide-hit victims

CAMERON HIGHLANDS: The orang asli villagers affected by the landslide at Kampung Sungai Ruil here earlier this month will be shifted out to transit homes near an army camp in nearby Brinchang.

The Department for the Development of the Orang Asli (Jakoa), with the help of the Defence Minis-try, is clearing and levelling the 1.8ha of private land there to build 137 units of terrace houses to temporarily house the affected villagers.

They will be staying at the transit homes for up to two years, pending studies by the relevant technical agencies on the safety of the village.

“We expect the houses to be ready by the first week of October.

“All the villagers will be relocated there,” the Jakoa director-general Datuk Sani Mistam said after a buka puasa function with the villagers on Tuesday.

The Aug 7 landslide buried five houses, resulting in the death of seven villagers, including three members of a family.

Two seriously injured victims are still receiving treatment at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh.

Initial reports said “excessive rainfall” caused the tragedy.

The villagers are currently hous-ed at the Dewan Jubli Perak in Tanah Rata and have been barred from en- tering Kampung Sungai Ruil, which had since become a ghost town at night.

Sani said the village needed to be vacated as it was deemed unsafe.

”Depending on the technical report, we will decide whether to strengthen the slope to stabilise the land,” he said.

Responding to the order to move out, village chief Kader Ahsan, 42, said the villagers agreed to comply with the order, although “it is not what we want”.

“As our safety is at stake, we will follow the authorities' instructions,” he said.