KUALA LUMPUR: The government’s assistance for flood victims could reach up to RM10,000 for each head of household, says Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said for victims whose houses were totally destroyed in the floods, the assistance will be much higher and could reach as much as RM61,000.

Realising the challenges awaiting the victims in the next few months, Ismail Sabri said assistance was one of the government’s efforts to alleviate the victims’ burden without having to take out their savings from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

He said with the cash assistance, they can keep their savings and annual dividend of about 5% so as to be able to have quite a comfortable life after retirement.

“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 Friday (Dec 31).

Ismail Sabri said the distribution of the assistance, which includes the compassionate aid (BWI), had begun on Dec 27, only 10 days after the floods compared with 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.

Apart from that, he said the assistance also included a cash voucher of RM500 for the purchase of electrical appliances to each family of flood victims to replace the ones damaged in the floods, which will be implemented from Jan 7.

He said each victim was also offered free car towing and repair service fees by Proton and Perodua, in addition to a 50% discount on spare parts, while other companies also offered free car towing services and a discount of at least 25% on spare parts and repair fees at registered service centres.

He said other initiatives include an RM1,000 voucher for repair or purchase to replace private vehicles that have suffered total damage.

Ismail Sabri said cash aid of up to RM5,000 will also be provided for house repair and 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 non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and volunteers were also doing their part to donate home essentials to the victims, the government has 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 would be improved from time to time and to be 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 to aid and donations from the corporate sectors, including GLC (government-linked companies) and GLIC (government-linked investment companies).

“You are all unsung heroes. Well done and congratulations! he said, adding that despite the tragedy and grief, the floods had highlighted the spirit of Keluarga Malaysia, namely the spirit of togetherness among the people regardless of race, religion and social status.” – Bernama