Aid for flood victims may reach RM61,000 – PM

The government’s assistance for flood victims could reach up to RM10,000 for each head of household, said Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

For victims whose houses were totally destroyed in the floods, the assistance will be much higher and could reach up to RM61,000.

Ismail said the aid was the government’s effort to alleviate the victims’ burden without them having to dip into their savings in the Employees’ Provident Fund (EPF).

He said that with the cash assistance, they could keep their savings and annual dividend of about 5% to be able to have a comfortable life after retirement.

“I hope the assistance will give a new light to Keluarga Malaysia,” he said in his New Year 2022 message broadcast live on television tonight.

Ismail said the assistance, which included compassionate aid, was distributed on Dec 27, 10 days after the floods, compared to months later on previous occasions.

“This will benefit more than 45,000 heads of households. This number will increase as we identify more victims who were not evacuated to relief centres. As of today, 20,000 heads of households have received the aid,” he said.

The aid also included a cash voucher of RM500 for the purchase of electrical appliances for each family to replace items damaged in the floods, which will be implemented from Jan 7.

He said each victim was also offered free car towing and repair service fees by Proton and Perodua, in addition to a 50% discount on spare parts. Other companies also offered free car towing services and a discount of at least 25% on spare parts and repair fees at registered service centres.

Other initiatives included a RM1,000 voucher for repairs or purchases to replace private vehicles that suffered total damage.

Ismail said cash aid of up to RM5,000 will also be given for house repairs. For each victim whose house was totally destroyed, the government will help cover the cost up to RM56,000 to build a new one.

He said since NGOs and volunteers were also doing their part to donate home essentials to the victims, the government had agreed to give cash of RM2,500 to each affected family to avoid duplication.

The prime minister said the government was committed to ensuring that all aid and assistance would be revised from time to time and distributed to the victims as soon as possible.

“I would like to thank all the security agencies, civil servants, NGOs, volunteers and individuals who have been working tirelessly to help and coordinate flood relief missions and post-flood clean-up operations.

“The same goes to aid and donations from the corporate sector, including GLCs (government-linked companies) and GLIC (government-linked investment companies). You are all unsung heroes. Well done and congratulations,” he said.
FMT

Aid for flood victims may reach RM61,000 – PM

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