Fire : Filipino squatters homes razed to the ground in Kuala Lumpur

[Watchman]

Filipino squatters homes razed to the ground in Kuala Lumpur
May 15, 2009
M'sia fire: 2.4k homeless

KUALA LUMPUR (Malaysia) - POLICE say more than 2,400 people - many of them Filipino immigrants - have been left homeless after a fire destroyed their squatter houses on an eastern Malaysian island.

Siman Casran, police chief of eastern Labuan island, says Thursday's blaze razed some 450 wooden homes. Most of them were squatter houses. He says there are no reported injuries.

He says some 120 firefighters took several hours to extinguish the fire, which may have been caused by a short circuit in one home.

He says authorities are still assessing the cause and extent of damage.

He says the 2,468 people left homeless have been put up in a stadium on the island, a tourist destination off Sabah state. He says many of them are immigrants from southern Philippines. -- AP

 

[Watchman]

May 15, 2009
Filipino remittances up 3%

MANILA - FILIPINO workers sent home a record US$1.5 billion (S$2.2 billion) in March, up 3.1 per cent from a year ago, as demand for overseas labour remained steady despite the global economic crisis, the central bank said Friday.

Nearly 10 per cent of the country's 90 million people work abroad - many as nurses, maids, engineers, construction workers and seamen.

For the first quarter, remittances grew 2.7 per cent to US$4.1 billion.

The World Bank has projected a 4 per cent drop in Filipinos' remittances this year as a result of the global downturn, but according to the central bank, demand for labour is still strong.

Central bank Gov Amando Tetangco said a bank study showed continued demand for Filipino workers in Saudi Arabia - the most popular destination for Filipino labour for the last four decades - as the kingdom gears up for construction of megacities.

'These developments provide continued optimism for stability in remittances, notwithstanding the displacement of some (workers) as a result of the global economic crisis,' Mr Tetangco said.

Last year, overseas Filipinos sent home US$16.4 billion, or 10.4 per cent of the country's gross domestic product, fuelling domestic consumption that is a lynchip of the economy.

The number of workers who left the Philippines in the first two months rose 27.3 per cent from a year ago, the central bank said.

Markets that have not been severely affected by the crisis also have job needs while recently signed labour accords are expected to improve job prospects for Filipinos in Canada, Australia, Japan, South Korea and Qatar, the bank said.

Apart from the Middle East, many Filipinos work in the US and South-east Asia. -- AP

 

[da dick]

cool. now the matmen don't have to think of new ideas to get rid of their squatter settlements, which are runing their tourist traps. just burn 'em all.