THE new government which will be formed after the Malacca polls must be fair to the Portuguese community despite their political affiliations, community leader Marina Danker said.

Danker told The Malaysian Insight that whichever party that takes over the state government should help the community regardless of who they had voted for.

“That will be the mark of good leadership. The state government must be fair to everybody. Help us fairly and equally.

“We need them (the new government) to come down and not see whether the people here are Barisan Nasional, Perikatan Nasional or Pakatan Harapan (supporters),” she said.

Polling for the state elections will take place on November 20 after four assemblymen withdrew support for Chief Minister Sulaiman Md Ali and his Umno-led government, which led to the dissolution of the state legislative assembly.

Danker, who heads the Portuguese settlement community development and safety committee, said the new state government must understand that the people need them.

“Their job is to look after the people during this time (of epidemic).

“So whoever the government is after the elections, they shouldn’t judge the people on which party they supported.”

She said it is important for any party in the state government to also see that they (the Portuguese settlement community) are also their people.

“So, everybody should be given the same treatment. Don’t pick and choose,” Danker said.

“The leaders that get picked must not say, ‘this is my people, my party and I am going to help them because they supported me’. That’s not right.”

As for the issues they are facing in the settlement, she said that most of the people have lost their jobs because of the Covid-19 epidemic.

“It affected the community badly. The various movement control orders hit the residents hard as two thirds of them are from the B40 group.

“Most of the youths here worked in the hotel industry. They have lost their jobs. All these people need assistance.”

Fishing affected

Currently there are close to 1,000 people living in 118 homes in the settlement. Another 600 residents stay in the surrounding areas.

“Some even have more than one family living in the same house. They get government assistance but that is not enough for them to survive.

“We are lucky to have many civil society groups, government bodies and  neighbours who are very caring and have been providing food aid.

She also said the fishermen at the settlement have been badly affected by the epidemic as well as the monsoon season.

“The issue of reclaimed land has made it difficult for them to go out to sea. They now have to go far out to get their catch.

“Some of them have small boats. The waves are now big and it is dangerous for them.

“For the past four to five months, they have been affected. They do get monthly subsidies of RM300 from the government. Although it is a small amount, it is still helpful.”

There are about 80 fishermen here who have 40 boats.

On the plight of the restaurants at the settlement, she said all 14 restaurants had fully opened last month after being shut for months.

“The restaurants are mostly open during weekend. With interstate travel having been allowed, there are more customers now.”

Danker also hopes that the new state government can help with infrastructure and drainage systems in the area. – November 16, 2021.