BERA: There were some delays in distributing flood aid to victims as it required the approval from the community leaders or village headmen to ensure the individual was eligible for the assistance, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob today.
Ismail Sabri, who is the Bera member of parliament, said the community leaders have to verify that the applicants were those who fit the definition of a "victim affected by the floods".
"The RM1, 000 'Bantuan Wang Ihsan' (BWI) aid payment can be completed faster to flood victims who moved to the PPS (temporary evacuation Centre) compared to those who choose to remain at their flood-hit homes. The village headmen or community leader have to look into their justification (if affected in floods) to be eligible for the aid.
"For example, those living on the 10th floor of a building where the floods reached up to the second floor and they had applied for the RM500 cash vouchers to purchase electrical appliances....they might instead qualify for the RM1,000 voucher to repair damaged vehicles if their cars were parked on the ground floor," he said in his speech during the" Santunan Kasih" programme with flood victims at Kampung Guai mosque today.
Ismail Sabri said the village headmen or community leader will be responsible in verifying that each application were genuine victims who were truly affected by the floods which will qualify them for the various aid provided by the government.
Meanwhile Ismail Sabri assured that the flood aid payment process will be completed within a shorter time compared to the previous occasions.
"In the past, the flood aid payments used to take between six months and a year before it was disbursed but this time it will be done as soon as possible. For victims who move to relief centres, they will be immediately eligible for the RM1,000 BWI aid.
"If you ask me, I will certainly want all floods victims to receive the cash aid but since it involves government funds and will go through the audit process, we have to be transparent during the process to distribute the aid," he said, adding the BWI payment to flood victims around the country was almost complete.
Ismail Sabri said to date RM1.4 billion has been spent for flood aid around the country and the expenditure is expected to increase up to RM6 billion including the total amount for damages caused by the floods.
He said the special disaster management Task Force will meet within the next two weeks to discuss on long term measures to tackle the floods.
"We can do a lot with the RM6 billion including widening rivers or flood mitigation measures. The victims might no longer need to endure hardship to vacate their homes and suffer major losses.
"We will look from a bigger perspective on how to handle the floods as it appears that we have been facing these floods every year without a proper solution. Regardless of the timeline which might take five to 10 years to completely be resolved but the government is determined to help solve it," he said.