Up to RM61,000 flood aid for victims who lost their homes, says PM

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

For victims whose houses were completely destroyed in the floods, meanwhile, the assistance could reach up to RM61,000.

Ismail said this assistance was one of the government’s efforts to alleviate the victims’ burdens without having to take out their savings from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

He said with the cash assistance, they would be able to keep their savings and annual dividend of about 5%.

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

Ismail said the distribution of the assistance, which includes the compassionate aid (BWI), began on Dec 27, just 10 days after the floods compared to the months needed previously.

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

He said the assistance also included a cash voucher of RM500 for the purchase of electrical appliances for each family of flood victims to replace the items damaged in the floods, to be implemented from Jan 7.

He said each victim would also be offered free car towing and repair service fees by Proton and Perodua, in addition to a 50% discount on spare parts, while other companies had 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 include a RM1,000 voucher for repair or purchase to replace private vehicles that have suffered total damage.

Ismail said cash aid of up to RM5,000 will also be provided for house repairs and that for each victim whose house was totally destroyed, the government would 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 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 is improved 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 for aid and donations from the corporate sector, including GLCs and GLICs. You are all unsung heroes,” he said, adding that despite the tragedy and grief, the floods had highlighted the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia which is the spirit of togetherness among the people regardless of race, religion and social status.