Sabah Deputy CM: Rubber cash aid given to my cousin

KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Wilfred Madius Tangau (pic), who is caught in a social media storm over receiving RM600 under the rubber smallholders monsoon season aid, said the money was given to his cousin, who is looking after his farm.

“I am the landowner of a small rubber farm in Tamparuli. But the person who is looking after it is the family of my cousin, Taimin Gindalan, ” he said late Saturday (Nov 30) in a statement issued from Kobe, Japan.

Madius said Taimin has been working on the farm for years and had even taken the initiative to apply for the rubber smallholders monsoon aid scheme.

“Whatever aid given over the years has been passed down to him (Taimin)," said Tangau, who is currently in Japan with a Sabah trade delegation.

Madius said that he also paid his cousin a monthly allowance to look after the rubber farm.

He said that he was very touched by Taimin’s family commitment especially his wife Sunah Gani, who was devoted to the rubber farm.

The Sabah government provides RM600 under the monsoon season aid for registered rubber smallholders.

Tangau’s name was among those who were listed as recipients in a list for the aid dispensed to rubber planters with 6ha and are registered with the Sabah Rubber Industries Board.

It drew criticism among netizens who questioned why Tangau, a state minister, should be included as a recipient of state assistance for poor smallholders.