JOHOR BARU: A woman is mulling to sue her late husband's employer for allowing the factory to operate despite recording several Covid-19 infections, which has claimed 16 lives, including her spouse.
Nancy Endi, 41, lost her 43-year-old husband, Hani Sha'ari, who died from the infection on Tuesday (July 27).
She said Hani was the head technician at the electronics company in Tanjung Agas, Muar near here and had been working there for 23 years.
Nancy claimed her husband was the 16th worker at the factory to succumb to Covid-19.
"It is not one or two people but 16, including my husband who died from the virus. The company could at least come up with some kind of compensation for the families affected.
"Or perhaps they (the company) do not know the value of the 16 workers who contracted the virus when working there and died," said Nancy, who is still mourning the death of her husband.
The mother of four said Hani tested positive for Covid-19 on July 13 before he was admitted to the Covid-19 Quarantine and Low-Risk Treatment Centre (PKRC) at the Melaka International Trade Centre (MITC) in Ayer Keroh, Melaka three days later.
Her husband's case was referred to a hospital in Melaka on July 19 after his condition became unstable.
She and her two children, aged four and 12, later tested positive for the virus while the Covid-19 test results for her two other children were negative.
"The last time we met my husband was on the day he was admitted to the PKRC. He had already been transferred to the hospital when my two children and I were quarantined at the PKRC.
"Since then, we communicated through telephone. There were occasions when my husband (his voice) appeared to be suffering from shortness of breath due to breathing difficulties," he said.
Nancy, who is from Indonesia, added that the last telephone conversation she had with Hani was on the afternoon of July 26.
"I thought of making a video call in the evening on the same day. However, on that day at 10pm, I received a call from the hospital informing me that they were going to give my husband something for him to sleep.
"At that moment, I could only pray for my husband's recovery," she said.
At 5.40am the following day, Nancy received a call from the hospital that her husband had died.
"Allah loves him more. However, what saddens me the most is that I was unable to see and hug him for the last time before his body was buried at a Muslim cemetery in Melaka last night."
Nancy who is still reeling from the shock of losing her husband is left clueless over her future since all her children are still schooling.
"I am still sad over the death of my husband. At the same time, I do not know what to do since I have no working experience. I must be strong for the sake of my children," she said.
Meanwhile, Persatuan Pemuda Puteri Malaya Bersatu (Perimau) Johor president Mohd Ridhwan Othman urged the authorities to take action to prevent other workers at the factory from suffering the same fate.
He said the ministry responsible for allowing the factory to operate during the National Recovery Plan should think about the safety and welfare of the workers and their families.
"We are not asking the factory to close for 14 years but only 14 days for the safety of the public.
"As for now, we learned that no action was taken against the owner and the operator of the factory. It must be temporarily closed to make way for mitigation measures such as disinfection works," he said.