Hamzah: Aid just trickling in
Flood victims are missing out on help due to polls, says minister
TAIPING: More help could have been channelled to flood victims if the national polls were not being held during the monsoon season, laments caretaker Home Minister Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin.
He said when floods happen during an election, lawmakers could not render much aid and assistance, fearing they would violate election regulations.
“We currently have over 3,000 flood victims who had to be evacuated to relief centres. The election period makes it hard to channel help to the victims,” he told reporters at the Larut Matang Selama district registration office yesterday.
The incumbent Larut MP said lawmakers could better focus on helping those in distress from the floods if not for the polls.
According to the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma), 3,014 flood victims from 932 families had been relocated to 29 temporary relief shelters after seven states – Kedah, Perak, Selangor, Melaka, Johor, Kelantan and Sabah – were hit by floods.
Polling for GE15 is on Saturday. On another issue, Hamzah said there have been attempts by undocumented foreigners to illegally obtain the red identification card
issued to permanent residents.
He said what was more worrying was that such syndicates were being led by Malaysians, resulting in foreigners living in this country for many years without valid documents.
“We have detected the activities of irresponsible Malaysians who are cashing in on this and have set up syndicates selling fake documents,” he said.
Police have arrested members of several syndicates, including the president of a Sabah-based political party, for allegedly leading an identification document scam syndicate targeting mostly foreigners.
Hamzah said document-selling syndicates posed a threat to national security, adding that more enforcement was required to put a stop to such activities.
“To enter Malaysia, you must have valid documents. The problem here is that our people are involved in syndicates which charge fees and then flee with the money.
“In the end, there are foreigners who have lived here for 20 to 30 years here without documents, to the point that they do not want to return to their homeland and instead apply for Malaysian citizenship status.
“This makes me angry. They (syndicate members) must be arrested,” he added.