SHAH ALAM: The government has allocated special aid for funeral arrangements for flood victims under the Bantuan Wang Ihsan (BWI) amounting to RM5,000.
National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) director-general Datuk Dr Aminuddin Hassim said the BWI consist of two kinds of assistance for the flood victims namely the RM1,000 cash-aid and RM5,000 to the next-of-kin of flood victims.
"Those who are eligible for the aid are Malaysian citizens with a valid identification card, a victim of the flood, residing at the house affected by the flood and required to register their details using the head of the family's name," he said at a press conference held at the Nadma command centre at Taman Sri Muda here, today.
Aminuddin added that registration must be done accordingly with the Welfare Department for those who were placed at the temporary evacuation centres.
"For those who remain at their homes can register with the Village Security and Development Committee, Village Community Management and village chiefs," he said.
To ease registration specifically for victims at the evacuation centres who are without their identification documents, Aminuddin said they were allowed to register at the respective shelters.
He added that the government was expediting the process of distributing the allocation of the RM 1,000 aid for the flood victims to state governments acting as the State Disaster Management Committee.
"We will expedite the allocation even though there are no proper figures (of the victims) yet, the state has estimated around 3,000 to 4,000 victims and from there we will channel the aid accordingly.
"If there is more (allocation) left, the money can be used for future programmes, or if is it not enough, we will add more.
"What is important now is that verification and payment will be done at the district level, not state or federal," he said.
Aminuddin also commented on the latest report by the Malaysian Meteorological Department (MetMalaysia) on the early signs of the monsoon expected to begin on Dec 27, potentially causing continuous rain in western Sarawak and eastern Sabah.
"I would like to request respondent colleagues to organise their respective teams so that we can manage the flood incident properly.
"Any information can be directly channelled to Nadma and we will ensure that coordination can be done from the National Disaster Command Centre," he said
On the latest situation in Taman Sri Muda, Aminuddin said most of the floodwater in the area haf receded and post-flood work has begun and the programmes would be coordinated by the Shah Alam City Council and supported by the Social Welfare Department.