Hospital's dilapidated surau restored, thanks to local community activist

6 Sept 2021

By Ilona Andrew

BELURAN: A Sabahan community activist has managed to raise RM45,000 through crowdfunding to restore a dilapidated surau of a public hospital here.

Lina Ramsah, 40, said it took five months to achieve the targeted amount for the campaign via Kitafund which started in February this year.

The staff of Hospital Beluran themselves had gone the extra mile to pitch in RM6,700 for the project. the founder of Beluran Hope non-governmental organisation (NGO) added.

The new look of the surau. Photo courtesy of Lina Ramsah

"The construction was supposed to only take two weeks to complete, but due to movement control order (MCO) and my community work commitment, it took four months.

"I hired an individual contractor for the construction of the surau as I know nothing about building things practically, but my team and I as well as the hospital staff had worked together to do other works like painting the walls," she told Nabalu News.

Demolishing of old surau. Photo courtesy of Lina Ramsah

According to Lina, her team went through a few setbacks during the process, such as the difficulty to obtain the materials.

"It's even hard for me to go to Sandakan to withdraw money to buy materials and pay for the workers' wages. The police wouldn't allow me, not until MCO was lifted."

But even so, the restoration of the surau was a success and beginning last week, fellow Muslim hospital staffers can perform their prayer routine comfortably and at ease.

The new look of the surau's interior. Photo courtesy of Lina Ramsah

Lina said at the moment, only the hospital staff are allowed to perform prayers at the surau to reduce the risk of Covid-19 transmission.

When interviewed last February, Lina who devotes her time to community works and volunteering said she was moved to help with the restoration as a way to thank hospital frontliners for their sacrifices in battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Photo courtesy of Lina Ramsah

She stated that working in a medical environment is very challenging and she knows what it feels like since she has worked closely with the hospital on a project before.

She has worked closely with the same hospital where she and her team built several isolation wards that house hospital staffers for Covid-19 quarantine.

Previously, Lina also mentioned that the surau that was built in the 1980s were unsafe as only 30 per cent of the building material was in good condition while the rest was severely decayed.