GAS PIPELINE FIRE: RM2,000 AID FROM MOHE A WELCOME RELIEF – AFFECTED STUDENTS

SHAH ALAM, April 6 (Bernama) -- University students affected by Tuesday's gas pipeline fire in Putra Heights have described the RM2,000 financial aid announced by the Higher Education Ministry (MOHE) as a welcome relief.

They said the contribution to be distributed by Yayasan Perkasa Siswa (YPS) is highly meaningful because many of them have lost gadgets such as tablets and laptops essential for their studies, which will resume tomorrow after the Aidilfitri holiday.

Nur Ain Aisya Mohmad Johar, a 23-year-old Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) student, said she would use the aid to replace her tablet and laptop, which were ruined in the fire.

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"UiTM also provided a small contribution... this has brought some relief to us," said the human resource management degree student, a Kampung Kuala Sungai Baharu resident.

Meanwhile, Adlyn Safiah Abu Samah, 20, a student of the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM), and her two siblings, who are also students at IIUM and Universiti Kuala Lumpur, expressed their gratitude for the contribution.

She said they may have to skip classes as they still cannot access their laptops and books.

"We will use this contribution to repair our gadgets…and use the rest (of the money) to help ease our parents' burden. Our family suffers significant losses…our family car and my brother's motorcycle were also damaged," she said.

Meanwhile, Higher Education director-general Datuk Prof Dr Azlinda Azman said they had identified 70 higher education students from public and private institutions stricken by the fire to receive the contribution.

"We will provide immediate assistance in the form of cash if any of them have lost or had their bank cards destroyed in the incident, and the rest will be done via online transfers," she said.

She added that discussions with the Digital Ministry regarding laptop donation to affected students are underway. 

-- BERNAMA