Stricken villagers from Kampung Kuala Koh, Gua Musang, Kelantan where 14 Orang Asli have died, have a steady supply of essential food items, clean water and medical supplies.
Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department P Waythamoorthy said that while the Bateq community village remains cordoned off as the cause of the deaths is identified, the villagers themselves are being looked after in the interim.
The supplies are reaching the affected vicinity through the combined efforts of the Department of Orang Asli Development (Jakoa), the Welfare Department, the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs, Air Kelantan Sdn Bhd and Universiti Sultan Zainal Abidin, Waythamoorthy's office said in a statement today.
Waythamoorthy, who visited the village last Sunday, will be in Kota Bharu and Gua Musang tomorrow to visit hospitalised victims and have further discussions with the authorities on site.
On Friday, he will be joined by Deputy Prime Minister Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail who chaired an emergency meeting on the crisis on Tuesday.
Police have conducted a post-mortem on two of the bodies but have yet to identify the exact cause of death. The duo was found to have died of pneumonia.
The village has been closed to the outside world pending lab test results to determine what pathogen was involved.
Authorities are still mulling whether to exhume 12 other bodies to run tests on them.
Environmental activists have argued that the community had been living under deteriorating conditions due to logging and mining activities. - Mkini
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