PPES Works

Coming To The Aid Of Fire Victims In Sri Aman

Thursday, 19 February 2009, Sri Aman: The construction and road maintenance companies of CMS group showed they are indeed a caring lot when they presented food rations and clothing items to help ease the heavy burden of 122 victims of fire who had lost their homes and life possessions earlier this month.

CMS Roads, PPES Works and CMS Pavement Tech representatives handed over RM1,350 worth of food and clothing to the families of the former Rh. Gendi located at Kampung Semilang, 30km from Sri Aman.

When the 30 year old longhouse burned down on 3 February 2009, it left 16 families in dire need of emergency supplies, food and clothing.

Ever ready to help those in need, the teams from CMS Roads, PPES Works and CMS Pavement Tech set about a quick donation and collection drive. Wholly initiated and funded by concerned employees, the hand-over of items was made after a long journey through poor road conditions to meet the affected longhouse folk.

CMS Roads Deputy General Manager, Dahlim Mungkil, spoke on behalf of the 3 companies, to express sympathy on the loss of their longhouse. “We sincerely hope that our small contribution can ease the burden of those affected by the recent fire while they are recovering from their loss. The residents are in our thoughts and prayers,” he said today.

Rufus Ak Unor, who spoke on behalf of the Tuai Rumah, Gendi Ak Ranti, thanked CMS for the generous contributions.

Paving The Way For Resettled Communities

4 November 2008, SARIKEI: Employees of CMS Roads and PPES Works did their best to pave a smoother way for a small longhouse community that is relocating to a new home amidst developments in Sarikei.

Sarikei-based CMS employees spent four full days completing the difficult job of moving and unloading more than 100 tonnes of construction materials and household effects so that Rh. Lat longhouse residents could immediately begin building their new homes.

The volunteers began the transportation tasks on 25-26 September and finished on 27-28 October. The two tasks entailed more than 24 lorry trips to transfer belongings, house contents and salvaged longhouse materials from the demolished longhouse to their new home.

“We believe it was important to help people of Rh. Lat in any way we could without expectation of reward. The early transportation of the timber allowed the residents to start immediate construction of kitchens and basic living requirements,” said project coordinator Major Foo Ah Cheng, PPES Works' Project Manager for Gerugu Dam.

Rh. Lat inhabitants were resettled under provisions made by the State Government due to on-going construction of the Gerugu Dam.

Rh Lat is being resettled at Jalan Kin San, approximately 25 km away from its former site. CMS' final contribution came after the State Works Department (JKR) and Resident's Office moved the remaining Rh. Lat structure to the new platform.

“CMS Roads and PPES Works has a strong duty of care and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). With units at 23 locations across Sarawak , we are in a unique position to offer manpower and equipment, particularly to rural folk with repair or infrastructure-related needs,” said Bilin Dandi, General Manager of CMS Roads.

Tuesday, 2 September 2008, Kuching: Employee volunteers from three CMS companies spent their weekend extending a helping hand to the Malaysian Leprosy Relief Association (MALRA) in support of Sarawak’s community of ex-leprosy patients and their families.

Volunteers from PPES Works, CMS Roads and CMS Pavement Tech spent the weekend of 23 and 24 August 2008 upgrading the drainage system at the MALRA Multi-Purpose Hall located at Jalan Puncak Borneo, Kuching.

Keeping the multi-purpose hall in good condition is important to MALRA and to the residents of neighbouring Kampung Sinar Baru as the hall is one source of much-needed funds.

MALRA uses rental income from the stalls to subsidize education and welfare for the State’s needy former leprosy community. This includes providing bus fare for students and supplementary income for low-income families living at Kampung Sinar Baru, as well as paying for traveling expenses for out-station leprosy sufferers seeking treatment at the Rajah Charles Brooke Memorial Hospital.

“MALRA’s multi-purpose hall currently houses food-stalls plus one sundry shop. Most of the vendors are families of former leprosy patients living at neighbouring Kampung Sinar Baru,” said MALRA’s Sarawak branch president, Joseph Kiu.

Despite having been cured from leprosy for many years, the strong stigma attached to the disease has left many who live in Kampung Sinar Baru struggling to gain mainstream employment, education and acceptance in society.

“Having the Hall’s drainage system upgraded from earth drainage to proper concrete drains will allow stalls to open all year round, and not be washed with mud each time heavy rains come. We are grateful to the construction arm of CMS for this gesture,” Joseph Kiu said. The hall is located at the foot of a hill, and is prone to mud-slides and during heavy rains.

The construction would not have been possible without the time and effort of Goh Seng Chua, Harun-ur-Rashid, Normaslina Mohd Nor, Shirly Ann Clarke, Suhadi Sulaiman, Abu Bakar Md Suhai, Abdul Rahim Jamal, Bilin Dandi, David Yung, Anthony, Boon Kut Leong, Dolhardy, Law Lee Eik, Noorhisham, Pasang, Raidin, Ronny, Vun Jan Loong, Sin, Teo Khing Tnia, Then Jit Choi, and Zailey.

PPES Works, CMS Roads and CMS Pavement Tech have lent continuous support to Kampung Sinar Baru since 2007 through its CMS Doing Good Community Outreach Programme.

Apart from donations of food, clothes and educational items, teams of employee volunteers from the three companies have regularly assisted the residents with community clean-ups and small construction works.

Monday 4 August 2008, Betong: Even after a hard week of work, 33 CMS Roads employees spent a whole Saturday doing construction and excavation work to help two primary schools in Betong on 2 August 2008.

The employee volunteers dug deep to find heavy-duty energy required to carry out much-needed repairs to local schools SK St Augustine and SK Abang Abdul Kadir during their day of rest.

Thanks to their community spirit, SK St Augustine now has newly resurfaced gravel driveways, car park and wooden car sheds for its teachers while SK Abang Abdul Kadir has a resurfaced sports field for its school athletes.

“We are very grateful to CMS Roads for helping us with this construction work and for supplying the materials to make this dream possible,” said SK St Augustine Principal Dennis Gassan.

As SK St. Augustine is a mission school, money is scarce for repairs and infrastructure upgrading work. The school appealed to CMS Roads (Betong RMU) for help earlier in the year.

According to Shirly Ann Clarke from PPES Works, employee volunteers from CMS Roads were happy to perform this hard physical work, because it meant achieving some good for the less fortunate.

“CMS Roads was very pleased to give back to the community and we were glad to be of assistance as part of our Corporate Social Responsibility activities,” she said.

CMS Roads financed most of the materials for construction including 40 tonnes of stone as well as supplying all the equipment and machinery needed for this endeavour.

Friday, 2 May 2008, BETONG: CMS Roads’ staff from Betong and Sri Aman braved the scorching hot sun last weekend to help build temporary shelters for six families affected by fire at Rumah Mani Panau at Pelasok, Skrang. The longhouse was devastated by fire on 9 April 2008.

Starting out early on Sunday morning (27 April 2008), Mr Jee Meng Tong, Operations Executive for Road Maintenance Unit (RMU) Betong divided the 46 volunteers into six groups, to build one shelter each.

At the end of the day, the men were proud and happy to present six new wooden shelters to the families who had previously been living in exposed conditions or with relatives and neighbours.

“Helping to construct these shelters was a very rewarding experience. The day was almost 40 degrees celcius and it was raining for a while in the morning, yet none of the volunteers were tired. Everyone enjoyed the work,” said Jee Meng Tong.

The largest of the six shelters constructed was 660 square feet and the smallest one was 160 square feet in size. Each of the temporary shelters can be used for 5 years or more.

Two weeks earlier, CMS Roads kicked off their assistance efforts by launching a donation drive among staff for the 38-door longhouse, raising RM3,547.50 in cash.

CMS Roads completed their project by collecting used blankets, sarongs, towels, bed sheets, and pillows from employees. The longhouse residents were delighted to receive these items.

As part of their ‘adoption’ of Kampung Sinar Baru, the team at Construction & Road Maintenance SBU took it upon themselves to make the on-coming ‘back to school’ season a little special this time.

On 19 December 2007, eleven volunteers from PPES Works and CMS Roads, with a little help from Centre Management trekked up to the kampong, 14 km from Kuching, to hand-over school books, stationary, and food to 88 school-going children.

Needless to say, there were plenty of smiles all round – from grateful children and parents of the Kampung Sinar Baru community, to the satisfied CMS volunteers.

In all, the supplies costs RM1,727.67 which was bought using employee contributions to Construction & Road Maintenance SBU’s very own Employees’ Charitable Donations Fund.

Kampung Sinar Baru began as a settlement village for ex-leprosy patients. Whilst many of the older generation have been cured, disfigurement of limbs has led to a social stigma of giving up on life amongst a number of the residents. Many children of the kampong do not go to school. Many others stop formal education after just a few years.

Having engaged with the Kampung Sinar Baru community numerous times throughout the year, the Construction & Road Maintenance team made it their mission to help raise the community residents’ confidence levels and motivation to improve their lives. Whilst this journey is bound to be long and difficult, Construction & Road Maintenance SBU knows full well whatever effort they put in to “Do Good” for Kampung Sinar Baru will be worthwhile.

Every year, the Construction and Road Maintenance Unit (CRMU) devotes time to help needy children in areas around Kuching.

Staff collect gifts to hand over the SEDC Love-In-A-Box annual programme. This year was no exception.

But in 2007, PPES Works, CMS Roads and CMS Pavement Tech outshone past performances by a landslide. The total gifts given in 2007 was 456, an increase from the 2006 total of 354, by 25 % !

School bags and supplies, clothing, toys and school uniforms flooded in from a pool of just 177 staff. 130 staff in CMS Roads, 7 employees in CMS Pavement Tech, and 40 from PPES took part.

At 456, the total collected in 2007 was 102 more gifts compared to 354 collected in 2006.

The following kampungs and schools benefited: Kpg Lanchang, Serian, Kpg Seroban, Serian, Tarat Sibala, Serian, SK Sacred Heart, Semaba, SK Rampangi, SK Muara Tebas.