Several
affected shops in Sungei Kadut fire not insured
SINGAPORE: About 20 shops were affected by the huge fire
that broke out at a factory in Sungei Kadut on Sunday. For some of
the shop owners, there is little hope of any compensation as their
shops were not covered by insurance.
Civil Defence officers were back at the site on Monday to
ensure all the flames had been put out. Mangled equipment was
strewn across the area.
Some of the affected shop owners said their leased spaces, which
were only separated by zinc sheets, were not insured.
Ooi Koon San, owner of Joo Hua Furniture, said: "Factories like
ours couldn't get insured because we did not erect a proper wall.
I've tried, but the insurance companies didn't accept my
application."
Teo Heng Meng, owner of Poa Soon Furniture, said: "My losses are
huge, but what can I do? Everything has been destroyed. Now I'm
hoping the landlord can give us some compensation. This is an
accident, there's nothing we can do."
Furniture-makers are not the only ones affected by the blaze, which
also ripped through shop units dealing in timber, tyres and
machines. For now, the landlord has yet to discuss any form of
monetary assistance.
As the incident happened on a Sunday, workers also did not get a
chance to save what they had kept at their workplace.
A worker, Lin Renqin, said: "My clothes, my bag, my passport were
kept in the factory. Now it's all gone. I don't know what to
do."
Fortunately, no one was injured in the fire. JTC, which manages the
industrial estate, is helping the Civil Defence in investigations
on the cause of the incident. - CNA/so
