SEREMBAN: Heated argument between the government and opposition aisle kicked-off the first day of the Negri Sembilan State Assembly.
The second sitting involving the second meeting of the 14th State Legislative Assembly saw a Barisan Nasional state assemblyman questioning the transparency behind the RM100 special aid for state-born public institutions of higher learning (IPTA) students.
The announcement on the special aid was made by the state government in April.
Datuk Zaifulbahri Idris (BN Umno - Chembong) said the announcement of the special aid coincided with Rantau by-election.
"Such accusation that we had offered the aid in the midst of Rantau by-election is too much.
"For the record, we had made the announcement in Seremban. We could have done it in Rantau if the aid was to fish for votes," said Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun (PH PKR - Sikamat) retorted to Zaifulbahri’s accusation.
"The aid was given because we wanted to help the people here, especially the students, and it was not politically motivated. We understand the hardship they have to go through in campus and we want to ease their burden.
"We are not Umno," said Aminuddin.
To this Zaifulbahri immediately responded by requesting the state lawmaker not to be easily offended as he is now in the state government.
The RM100 special aid was provided by Yayasan Negeri Sembilan (YNS) to students from the B40 group.
Earlier, Aminuddin said a total of 193 Negri Sembilan-born IPTA students had applied for the aid, with 52 applications being approved.
He said this year a total of RM1.95 million allocation has been allocated, which would benefit 19,500 state-born students in IPTA nationwide.
Aminuddin said from April to August this year, the aid had benefited 5,700 students, amounting to RM530,000 aid.