KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim says flood aid has been channeled to the people although it did not go through their respective members of parliament.
He said for example, the recent allocation of RM50 million for the floods in Johor was relayed to the flood victims instead of the state government.
"Just like in Johor, the RM50 million was channeled to the needy.
"Although the allocation for parliamentarians has yet to be received, it (flood aid) did reach the people," Bernama quoted Anwar as saying to reporters after attending the National Craft Day 2023 Exhibition here today.
He was commenting on former prime minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin's call for the government to immediately allocate RM300,000 for each MP in flood-hit states.
Muhyiddin, who is also Pagoh MP, porposed for the RM50 million flood allocation to Johor to be increased to RM100 million.
Anwar reiterated that the flood aid would be channeled directly to the victims.
"There is no commission on our part, so the money will be relayed direct to the people. (At the same time) Flood mitigation projects will be expedited.
"Actually, in Johor, the (the cost of flood aid and project) have reached RM1 billion, including the flood mitigation project."
On the suggestion to allocate RM300,000 to each MP, Anwar said he was willing to discuss the matter with Muhyiddin.
Anwar also criticised the claims by several opposition MPs on the government's reluctance to disseminate allocations equally across the board.
"It is not that we did not give (the allocation). (Even if we give) RM50 million for a village road project, they will make a noise, (saying) that we are cruel and did not allocate anything to opposition states.
"They used the terms "cruel", "unfair" or use the Al-Quran (to justify their claims). The government did not cut down on state projects. These are just political accusations."
Meanwhile, FMT also reported that Anwar had questioned if opposition states that were affected by the floods had also allocated funds to all their respective assemblymen.
"How do they categorise themselves if they label us as 'cruel' since they themselves don't allocate (funds) in their own states?"