The latest Nipah victim has created a new urgency for the government to solve the problem that has become a key issue in the upcoming Teluk Kemang parliamentary by-election.

Ex-pig farmer, Yeong Hong Chong, died yesterday of the virus infection after a long illness. Yeong, 33, was from Bukit Pelanduk, which is in Lukut state constituency, one of five within Teluk Kemang parliamentary constituency.

BA candidate Ruslan Kassim and KeADILan vice-president Tian Chua expressed their condolences to the bereaved family this morning.

Between October 1998 and May 1999, Malaysian health authorities have recorded more than 258 cases of encephalitis, with at least 104 deaths. Thousands of pigs were culled in the bid to control the deadly outbreak.("[#1] Nipah claims another victim[/#] ", Feb 14)

Yeong's wife, Lai Soon Hwa, told malaysiakini that her husband was infected with the virus for 15 months. Lai, 34, who is unemployed, has had to endure all kinds of hardship, looking after two children, a girl and a boy, aged 9 and 5 years respectively.

"How can I work when I have to take care of the children?" she asked.

"The community here faces a lot of hardship. We need to pay rents and repay our loans. The creditors are constantly on our backs. We are terribly in debt," she lamented.

According to Lai, there was no assistance extended to her by the government. She conceded that the MCA did try to help the community.

"I tried to apply for the welfare assistance and they (the welfare department) told me that I can only receive RM150 (for her husband's condition) if my application is accepted," she said.

"Even for that, my application was rejected," she lamented.

The government finally paid an amount of RM31 million to 468 pig-farmers at RM70 per pig culled last Saturday.

The cheque presentation was attended by Agriculture Minister Effendi Norwawi, Health Minister Chua Jui Meng, Lukut state assemblyman Yeow Chai Thiam and BN candidate for Teluk Kemang by-election, S. Sothinathan. ("[#2] By-election campaign 'racially motivated', says MB[/#] ", May 30).

As reported by Sunday Star (May 28), Yeow "pleaded" with his constituents to vote for BN in the by-election so he could continue to help resolve their plight. Yeow told pig farmers that he "understood their sorrows" when they lost money and lives to the virus outbreak last year.

However, Lai has yet to receive the government compensation of RM70 per pig culled during the height of the Nipah outbreak and she found it hard to agree with the amount given.

Lai complained that it is just too small an amount to compensate for their losses. Furthermore, she claimed that the government is only willing to pay for a percentage of the pigs culled.

"We have more than 1,000 pigs but the government is only willing to pay for about 600. I'm still waiting," she lamented.

According to her, about 70 other pig-farmers in Bukit Pelanduk have also yet to sign the compensation agreement because they find the sum too low. The cost price of a pig is about RM150-RM200.