Press Statement By Chong Chieng Jen：
I have yesterday handed over some education allocation to help the daughter of the late Mr. Chai who was killed in the collapsed road along Jalan Haji Baki last year.
In July, 2021, Miss Chai’s late father was killed when a part of Jalan Haji Baki collapsed and his car was swept by the landslide into the pile of earth underneath. It was a tragic accident. With the loss of her father, who is the sole bread-earner, the family was immediately put in a very difficult financial situation.
In September, the Pakatan Harapan signing the Memorandum of Understanding with the Government, thus all Pakatan Opposition Members of Parliament are now availed with allocation to hand out financial assistance to those in need.
As such, I have allocated some fund to help her to continue her education in college. It is regrettable that the Majlis Perbandaran Padawan (MPP), has, since the occurrence of the accident in July, 2021, failed to make any compensation to the family on the loss of her father.
The council has a legal obligation to ensure the safety of the roads under its jurisdiction. When a part of the road collapsed causing injury or death to the road user, it is the responsibility of the Council to compensate the family on their loss (including the loss of income of the late Mr. Chai).
As a government authority, MPP should not be waiting for the victim of the accident to sue in Court to recover their loss. A government authority should take the initiative to calculate the loss and offer the compensation to the family without the need for the family to go through the whole legal process.
We all know that such legal proceedings will take years to come to a conclusion. Such position taken by MPP is not that of a caring and sensible government.
Therefore, the attitude of MPP to wait for the victim to sue and then the final conclusion of a lengthy legal proceedings is most unwarranted and cruel to the family, especially in this case where the victim is from a low-income family.
I call upon MPP to pay compensation to the family of the late Mr. Chai so that Miss Chai can continue with further education.
