‘Govt yet to decide on payouts for Pasir Gudang victims’

Time out: Wan Azizah during a break at Parliament in Kuala Kumpur. — Bernama

Reports by MARTIN CARVALHO, RAHIMY RAHIM and TARRENCE TAN 

THE federal government has yet to determine whether to compensate the victims of the chemical dumping incident in Pasir Gudang, Johor, says Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Wan Azizah Wan Ismail.

For now, she said the government was focusing on immediate medical assistance and treatment to the victims.

She added that the government was also looking for preventive measures to ensure similar incidents would not occur in future.

“For compensation, we have yet to determine the exact amount or how we are going to provide it,” she said in reply to a supplementary question from Mohd Shahar Abdullah (BN-Paya Besar).

Mohd Shahar was asking the government to state the amount of compensation that would be paid to the victims of the incident.

On a separate matter, Dr Wan Azizah said RM8.78mil had been allocated to east coast states to address flooding issues during the monsoon season between November last year and March this year.

A total of RM5.6mil was allocated to flood relief centres, while RM2.8mil was given to the Welfare Department to procure basic items needed during the flood season including mattresses, mats, blankets and pillows.

Dr Wan Azizah said a total of RM320,000 had been allocated for the expenditure of the state disaster management committee secretariat for east coast states.

“For the flood victims, the federal government allocated a total of RM500 to each head of household,” she told Datuk Rosol Wahid (PH-Hulu Terengganu), who asked the government to state the allocations provided to east coast states to face floods during the monsoon season.