“The fire was caused by a short circuit in damaged wiring that the owner of the house had called TNB to repair. TNB did send a worker, but the repair was not finished,” explained DAP Assemblyman Lau Weng San at a press conference today.

“The rain that came after that caused a short-circuit, which sparked the fire.”

The conflagration, on Feb 23 in Sungei Way New Village, razed the house to the ground and also damaged the top floor of a renovated hostel next door.

“Over 20 people were affected in total. The house that was burned down was a bungalow lot, a New Village house. It was their ancestral home,” Lau said.

The Kampung Tunku Assemblyman said his efforts and that of the affected families’ to contact TNB for a meeting since the February fire had not succeeded.

“The purpose of this press conference is to pressure TNB into responding. The least TNB should do is offer some form of compensation to the families, reduce their financial burden,” said Lau.

“They need somewhere between RM500,000 to RM600,000 to rebuild their house. I don’t think they can afford that.”

The families are staying temporarily with relatives and in nearby rented houses.

“We are exploring other legal avenues of action. We may lodge a complaint with the Energy Commission.”