KUANTAN: Wheelchair-bound Sarepah Awang Bakar was all smiles with the repairs and clean-up of her formerly dilapidated home.
This was made possible through the Touch Point Cabinet Away Day Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah (POLISAS) 2017 programme.
About 300 Polisas volunteers repaired the 30-year-old house which had a leaky roof and put in concrete foundation to replace the wooden one for greater structural stability.
The 65-year-old woman lives with her son Mazlan Rani, 40, daughter Rohani, 39, and grandson Fuad Hakimi Abdullah, 12.
"The roof has been leaking for a long time as we could not afford to repair it. My son and daughter work as an eatery assistant and gardener respectively.
"We are grateful that our family was picked for the house-repair assistance. The house is more comfortable now, thanks to everyone involved," said Sarepah, who has been confined to a wheelchair following the amputation of her infected left leg last year.
She was met after the closing ceremony of the programme - officiated by Indera Mahkota Umno chief Datuk Mustaffar Kamal Abdul Hamid here today.
Also present were Polisas director Norlida Abd Razak and Kampung Balok Village Development and Security Committee (JKKK) chairman Mansor Mokhtar.
The programme - a joint effort between Polisas, the Prime Minister's Office's Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU), and the Higher Education Ministry - focuses on efforts to create social impact via sharing of experience and student expertise.
Meanwhile, Norlida said that 56 houses of underprivileged people in the Kuantan and Indera Mahkota parliamentary constituencies were repaired through the two-phase programme.
"Around 22 houses were repaired at a cost of RM110,000 in the first phase from Nov 4 to 26 last year and 34 houses were repaired at a cost of RM170,000 in the second phase that ends this month.
"Repair works done includes wiring, replacement of roof and cement work as well as contributing daily necessities," she said, adding that repair work was carried out by 300 Polisas students and assisted by 90 lecturers, among others.
"Through the programme, students can not only implement the techniques they have learned (in Polisas) but also inculcate caring for the less fortunate," she said.