Pengerang family commit suicide on New Year's Day

Poverty and forced relocation to make way for the RM60 billion Refinery and Petrochemical Integrated Development (Rapid) project could have led a family of three in Pengerang to end their misery by committing suicide on the first day of 2013.

The Chinese couple - a 62-year-old man and his 57-year-old wife - along with their son, aged 20, who suffers from Down syndrome, were found dead in their home in Kampung Jawa, Pengerang yesterday.

According to English daily The Star, Kota Tinggi OCPD Supt Che Mahazan Che Aik said a neighbour who smelled smoke coming from the house alerted the police at around 10am yesterday.

“When we went to the house, we found the bodies of two men and a woman in a bedroom. We believe that the family might have burnt something and suffocated themselves to death by inhaling smoke,” he was quoted as saying.

According to Che Mahazan, the husband had earlier told a neighbour that he wanted to kill himself and his family because they were living in poverty.

“Initial investigations showed that there was no evidence of criminal intent in the house,” he said, adding that all the bodies were sent to the Kota Tinggi Hospital for post-mortem.

Chinese daily China Press also reported that the family was believed to be under tremendous pressure after the land they stayed on was acquired for the project and the family was forced to relocate.

Husband caring for wife and son

According to Chua Peng Sian, treasurer for the Coalition of Pengerang NGOs which is leading the anti-Rapid movement, the family was renting the house on the affected land, and therefore could only received some RM20,000 of compensation.

The husband had complained to local political leaders after receiving the relocation instruction and told them that he wanted to commit suicide, alleged Chua (left).

“We found out from the local residents that the family was in poverty. The wife was a stroke patient while the son was mentally-challenged.

“The husband was a chef in a local restaurant but he had to stop working recently to take care of his wife and son,” said Chua in a statement issued yesterday.

Chua urged the government to seriously look into the predicament faced by Pengerang residents due to the Rapid project or else there would be more such tragedies.

The RM60 billion Rapid project, jointly developed by national oil company Petronas, Johor state government and private companies including Dialog Group and Dutch company Royal Vopak, would eventually occupy 9,000 hectares of land, affecting at least 15 villages in the area at the southern tip of Johor.

The magnitude of the project will be far larger than the combined size of Petronas' existing oil complexes in Malacca, Kerteh and Gebeng.

The mega project aims to transform southern Johor into a refining and petrochemical centre, complementing the existing facilities on the east coast of the peninsula and in Singapore.

The local residents have launched an anti-Rapid movement since early last year to protect their homes and environment.