Joy at the end of 8-month despair for family living in car

GEORGE TOWN: The Penang state government has finally approved an application from S. Ganesh to get a People's Housing Project (PPR) residential unit after the fate of the security guard and his family of five who lived in their car since last April, received widespread media coverage.

The 34-year-old was very grateful for the concern shown by many parties to him and his family, including the state government which extended assistance by approving the PPR housing unit.

Ganesh said he and his wife and their three children will temporarily stay in the disaster unit at PPR Padang Tembak here until the PPR unit in the nearby block for them is completely repaired.

"Thank you very much to all the people who have helped me… it is like the whole of Malaysia has helped me with donations and children's necessities," he told reporters when met after receiving the house key at PPR Padang Tembak on Saturday.

Ganesh also thanked the media that published the unfortunate story of his family to the extent that the help received was beyond his expectations.

"Thanks also to the media, after my story came out, many people came to help me and my family. Now I have a house… I am really happy as me and my wife and children can finally sleep at home,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairman of the Housing, Local Government, Town and Country Planning Committee, Jagdeep Singh Deo when handing over the house keys to Ganesh clarified that his party only received Ganesh's application for a PPR unit last Wednesday.

The family was previously offered to occupy a disaster unit provided by the Social Welfare Department (JKM) after their house on Carnavon Street caught fire last April.

However, Jagdeep understood that Ganesh had rejected the offer and only applied for the PPR unit two days ago.

According to Jagdeep, the family has accepted the offer to stay in the disaster unit provided before moving to the PPR unit after the house had undergone repair works.

A few days ago, the local media including Astro AWANI reported the story of Ganesh and his family who had to live in their Proton Iswara car for the past eight months after their residence was gutted down last April.

In fact, Ganesh’s wife, S. Parameswary had to go through confinement in the car after giving birth to their youngest child. They also had to make use of public toilets to cleanse themselves.

The hardship faced by Ganesh also received the attention of independent preacher, Ebit Lew who rushed to Penang yesterday to channel aid to him.