Double whammy for Kg Titingan resident

TAWAU: It was a double whammy for Sumarno Lama, a victim of the fire that destroyed 60 houses and left 300 people in Kampung Titingan here homeless early today.
This was the second such incident for the 38-year-old man in two months after his mother's stall at the floating market nearby went up in smokes in July.
"I do not know what to say, I have run out of tears. All I can do now is to pray for aid.
"We are in need of urgent monetary aid because we had to flee with just the clothes we had on our backs," said Sumarno whose house is in Block D of the settlement.
Sumarno who lived in the house inherited from his forebears with an extended family of 14 is now taking shelter at a relative's home.
Meanwhile, the village's headman Ismail Amoo, 68, said a man caught by the police in connection with the fire was believed to be owing rental arrears stretching back to five months.
"The owner had asked him to vacate the house because of unpaid rent and he is believed to have set his home on fire in a fit of anger. However, he was caught by police with assistance from the villagers," he said.
In the July incident, 76 other stalls also went up in flames, believed to have been caused by a short circuit.
The Tawau Umno division was also quick to respond to the predicament of the victims.
Its vice head Datuk Nizam Abu Bakar Titingan said emergency cash aid would be extended to the families so that they could purchase basic necessities.
Nizam, who is also the chief political secretary to the Sabah Chief Minister, also assured that the state government would look into their plight. — Bernama