BANGKA - In the morning, dozens of houses in Penagan Village were damaged by a tornado on Wednesday (26/10/2022). This disaster occurred in Dusun 1, 2, 4, and 7 of Penagan Village.
To assist in handling the tornado in Penagan Village, PT TIMAH Tbk deployed an Emergency Response Group (ERG) team to collect data and distribute assistance in the form of zinc and asbestos to communities affected by the tornado on Wednesday (26/10/2022).
The Head of Penagan Village, Ismail As'an, said that his party did not expect the assistance to come from PT TIMAH Tbk so quickly. Previously, they did not provide information to PT TIMAH Tbk about the disaster that attacked their residents.
They are even more grateful because the assistance that PT TIMAH Tbk has brought is in the form of building materials that their residents really need.
“We have not contacted PT Timah to ask for help. And I was also surprised when a group from PT Timah Tbk came to see me earlier. This action taken by PT Timah is extraordinary for us because it is rare for a company or agency to provide direct assistance, where today a disaster occurs and on that day the assistance is directly distributed," he said.
His party appreciated the quick response of PT TIMAH Tbk which swiftly helped the community affected by the tornado. This assistance was directly distributed to the houses of the affected residents.
"And this makes us very impressed with the steps taken by PT TIMAH Tbk," he said.
According to Ismail, Penagan Village is an area where tornadoes are frequent, but with the frequent calamities that befell its residents, there is not much Ismail can do to protect its residents from the hurricane.
According to him, the current effort is to prevent a more severe impact from the nipple disaster that often occurs in their village by urging residents to cut down trees near their homes. So if there is a hurricane does not cause severe damage.
"There are several hamlets that were affected, the most severely damaged were in hamlet 2 and hamlet 4. where one of our resident's houses named Pak Yusuf suffered the worst damage, then Pak Edi's house," he said.
Ismail hopes that PT TIMAH Tbk will continue to pay attention to its citizens affected by the disaster. Because the presence of rocks from PT TIMAH Tbk is very helpful for the community. He hopes that other companies will also do the same to help their citizens.
“PT TIMAH was the first to come to help our residents. We hope that PT Timah is not the only one who cares, because in Bangka Regency there are many companies. But for us PT TIMAH can be an example or row model for other companies, such as with its quick response actions," he said.
"To PT Timah Tbk, don't get tired of helping people who have been hit by a disaster, like in Penagan Village today," he hoped.
One of the residents affected by the disaster, Yusuf did not expect that he would get help from PT Timah Tbk to repair the roof of his damaged house. Yusuf admitted that he was confused about getting new asbestos so he could cover his house.
“I never thought that PT TIMAH Tbk would help. If there is no help from PT TIMAH Tbk, I don't know what to do. Because if I expect a salary as a palm oil worker, I don't necessarily have enough money to buy this asbestos,” said Yusuf.
"Alhamdulillah PT TIMAH Tbk came to provide assistance for us in the form of 16 pieces of asbestos," said Yusuf.
Yusuf is endlessly grateful for asbestos assistance from PT TIMAH Tbk so that he can help repair his house.
“I am very happy for the assistance that PT Timah has given me. I don't know what to say, but clearly, I am very grateful to PT TIMAH for helping me and my family," he said.
