Payment for initiatives to help flood victims starts today — PM
BERA: Payment for aid initiatives to ease the burden of flood victims will start today, with the Prime Minister's Department's Implementation Coordination Unit (ICU) to channel the money to the district and land offices before being distributed to those involved, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
He said the payment covered the contribution for the purchase of essential goods amounting to RM2,500; vehicle repair discount; rebate of RM500 for the purchase of electrical goods and home repair assistance of between RM5,000 and RM15,000 for damage caused by the disaster.
“There are three methods of payment, namely to be given directly to the house (of recipients), or at the community hall and so on or to be credited into the recipient's account. We leave it to each district to discuss with the ICU in matters of payment.
“I want this payment to be expedited ... there are no forms that need to be filled in because the list (of flood victims) is ready. Our principle is not to have a complicated bureaucracy. Assistance should be made easy,” he said.
Ismail Sabri said this at a press conference after presenting RM1,000 compassionate aid (BWI) from the federal government and RM500 contribution from the Pahang government to 478 flood victims in Bera district, including 45 victims of the second wave of floods, at the Bera district council convention hall here yesterday.
Ismail Sabri said the repair work on damaged houses, which involved appointing contractors, had already been implemented by the Public Works Department (JKR) in Pahang, Negeri Sembilan and Melaka.
As for vehicle repair assistance, Ismail Sabri said the district and land offices were also asked to list workshops in the affected areas so that flood victims did not have to go further to find vehicle service centres such as Proton, Perodua or others that may not be available in their areas.
On a related development, the Prime Minister said although the list of flood victims was already in the hands of the aid management, in the event that there were individuals who were left out, they were urged to refer to the district and land office, which was also responsible for investigating if there was any element of fraud in aid applications. — Bernama