*Frequently entered by animals
BANGKA TENGAH -- Edison residents of Kulur Village, Lubuk Besar Subdistrict did not expect the house he inhabited to be renovated by PT Timah Tbk. The house of his parents who suffered various damages was appropriate to be repaired.
Some parts of the house made from this board have been holes, the cement floor has broken, some wood almost collapsed, and the roof has begun to rain when it rains. The father of two children has long wanted to improve his house, but what is the power of mediocre economic conditions make them have to survive in this situation.
Edison who worked as a farmhand told me that he had a dream to renovate his house into a concrete house. "Yes, it has long been an intention to fix it, but income is only mediocre, only enough to eat every day. So yes this is the condition," he said during the demolition of the house to be renovated by PT Timah Tbk, Monday (10/18/2021).
He told me, during the rainy season like this sometimes there are animals that enter the house from the perforated board. "Sometimes there are twinkles, snakes come in from between the holes in the boards. Especially during the rainy season like this, some of the cement also breaks, so maybe the animals from below also come out," said Edison.
The 43-year-old lives in the house with his two children and his wife. Every day he works as a palm picker and rubber farmer. With this mediocre income, he can only meet daily needs. "I didn't expect this house to be repaired. The same company of PT Timah Tbk was facilitated by the village government. I was very happy and immediately told my wife to be really happy and grateful. If you use your own costs, I don't know when you will be able to fix this house," he said.
He was lucky that his house would be built permanently, so there was no longer any concern that he would be entered by various animals that could harm his son. "We are very grateful that this house can be repaired so that we can live in a more decent house. Thank you to PT Timah who has improved my house," he said.
In line with the expressed Wati Edison's wife, Wati said this is like for him their home can be tricked. "Very happy, sometimes if the wind of our roof flies. It leaked all, glad that this will be repaired by PT Timah," he said.
As long as the house is renovated, they temporarily occupy the back of the house. If it is not possible they will hitchhike at a relative's house. "Staying here at the back has not been renovated. If you live while there are many here there is an old house, there is a brother's house," he said.
Meanwhile, the Secretary of Kulur Village, Dori Faisal, said that Edison's house was indeed worthy of repair. Previously, Edison's house had indeed been proposed to be a recipient of housing assistance from the government program. Just still waiting for their turn. "We have proposed to help repair this house. But it's waiting for our turn, the budget is also limited and the quantity is limited. That's why we are grateful that PT Timah helped this house to reduce the number of uninhabitable houses in Kulur Village," he said.
According to him, Edison also became one of the recipients of social assistance because it was still economically below average. "We appreciate PT Timah Tbk which has helped our community by renovating uninhabitable houses to be habitable. We hope there is another program like for other communities because this is very helpful," he said.
He assessed PT Timah Tbk has distributed a lot of social assistance to the people in their villages such as medical and other assistance. "A lot of social assistance here such as sacrificial animals, medical expenses and others, we hope it will continue like this so that more and more people are helped," he concluded. (**)
