Penang hopes for Federal flood aid to double

GEORGE TOWN: Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng has urged the Federal Government to increase flood assistance for affected households here from RM250 to RM500.

“Flood victims from other states are receiving RM500 and I hope for a similar sum in Penang.

“The Federal Government is giving RM5.6mil to 22,534 flood victims in Penang which is equivalent to RM250 for each household head.

“We hope, when payment is made this mid-March, it can be increased to RM500,” he said yesterday.

Lim was commenting on the Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Shahidan Kassim’s reply on Monday to his oral question in Parliament where he asked about the status of the floods on Nov 4 and 5 last year.

Dr Shahidan stated that the RM5.6mil disbursement was for last year’s flood victims.

He said the RM35,000 flood aid received by Penang from 2013 to 2016 was because the state only experienced the monsoon in 2013 which saw 71 families evacuated to tempo- rary shelters. Dr Shahidan added that the state did not experience monsoon flood from 2014 to 2016 with the exception of flash floods.

He said the Natural Resources and Environment Ministry, through the Drainage and Irrigation Department, had spent RM1.254bil on flood mitigation projects to upgrade the drainage system in Penang under the 5th Malaysian Plan to 10th Malaysian Plan, with an additional RM150mil allocated for Sungai Pinang Flood Mitigation Project under the 11th Malaysian Plan.