The Malaysian Chinese Organisation Election Appeals Committee (or Suqiu Committee) has urged the government to provide a comprehensive welfare assistance programme for the victims of the Nipah virus outbreak and their families to help them cope with the financial and psychological hardship of seeking re-employment, education and medical treatment and of losing their family members.

Suqiu Committee secretary Ser Choon Ing said that the Barisan Nasional government has more than a humanitarian reason to assist those affected by the virus.

"If the authorities have acted in time to control the outbreak and not mistakenly diagnosed Nipah virus as Japanese encephalitis, many of these families would have been spared the great misery they now suffer," he pointed out.

He noted that the compensation of RM70 per pig culled is only applicable to the first 2,000 pigs, whereas the remaining are compensated by only RM50 per pig.

"Both these amounts are much lower than the cost price of a pig which is between RM150 to RM200. Therefore, the authority should compensate at least RM120 per pig as requested by the farmers," he said.

The Suqiu Committee also called upon the BN government to revive the pig-breeding industry, not only because the pig farmers have invested heavily in their farms but because the industry itself represents a considerable source of income for the country. In 1998, the export of pigs to Singapore alone netted the country RM 440 million.

The Suqiu Committee further demanded that "all the private losses incurred due to the prevention or control of any outbreak should be compensated sufficiently", including losses from the foot and mouth disease affecting cattle and goats and the papaya ring spot or cocoa pot borer viruses affecting fruit trees.

"As any outbreak will endanger the public interest in terms of lives and properties, the cost of its prevention shall never be born by the citizens involved directly," he said.