PENAMPANG: Flood victims at the Kolopis Temporary Relief Centre, including students from SK St Paul, have been wearing the same clothes for days due to lack of clean clothing.
Noiti Ibot, 54, who oversees more than 30 victims at the centre, expressed concern seeing children attending school in unchanged clothes since their evacuation.
“Many parents asked if they should request for clothes as their clothing remained wet. It breaks my heart seeing children going to school in the same outfit,” she said.
Despite limited resources, Noiti reached out to contacts including teachers and non-governmental organisations to secure used clothing and food donations.
She was also touched by the kindness of teachers, who took it upon themselves to wash the donated clothes before giving them out to the flood victims.
“I was truly moved seeing teachers sacrifice their time and energy to ensure students and their families had clean clothes to wear,” she said.
Meanwhile, Mujarna Adzrik, 47, said the Prime Minister’s presence on Friday brought great hope to those who lost their homes.
“We are very grateful and happy to receive assistance. We feel proud having a Prime Minister who cares for all citizens regardless of race and religion.
“This is the third time floods have hit, but we remain resilient as this is our only home and my child goes to school here,” Mujarna said.
During the visit, the Prime Minister distributed aid to 400 affected household heads, namely 170 from Kolopis centre, 170 from Sarapung centre and 60 from Inobong.
The assistance were channelled through the Malaysia Cooperative Commission.
