Helping out: Flood victims waiting to collect the government’s compassionate aid at the Kampung Lombong Community Hall in Shah Alam. — Bernama
PETALING JAYA: A special Parliament meeting will be held on Jan 20 in light of the flood crisis that has affected the rakyat recently, says Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.
The Prime Minister said the special meeting would be in accordance with Standing Order 11 (3), Rules of the Dewan Rakyat.
He said the order entailed discussing matters related to national interests that included floods and post-floods, coordination of assistance to the rakyat and long-term flood disaster management planning.
“Yang di-Pertuan Agong Al-Sultan Abdullah Ri’ayatuddin Al-Mustafa Billah Shah has been informed of the implementation of this special meeting in which His Majesty’s consent has also been obtained.
“This special meeting is important for the government to explain to the people about its actions and plans to address flood issues,” he said in a statement.
Separately, the Prime Minister said a total of 39,255 or 79.5% of the 49,394 heads of households affected by floods had received the government’s compassionate aid (BWI) of RM1,000 as of noon yesterday.
Those who had yet to register or receive the aid can contact the Disaster Operations Control Centre and their respective district officers to get the aid, he said in a tweet.
The government recently announced the list of the Malaysian Family Flood Aid, which includes the BWI of RM1,000 to each affected head of household, compared to RM500 previously.
The distribution of BWI began on Dec 27, 10 days after the unexpected massive floods that hit several states in the peninsula, including Selangor, Pahang and Negri Sembilan.
Meanwhile, Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Special Tasks) Datuk Mastura Mohd Yazid said over RM39mil in BWI had been distributed.
“The aid is being distributed daily. If the heads of household were not present at the distribution centre, we will go and find them,” she said after checking the BWI distribution process at Kampung Lombong Community Hall in Shah Alam.
She said each recipient was given an appointment date to receive the aid so that they would know when and where to get it.
According to Bernama, Klang district disaster management committee chairman Mohd Faizal Abd Raji said the distribution of aid from the federal and state governments to the victims in Taman Sri Muda was expected to be completed soon.
“We have distributed the aid to more than 90 affected households so far.
“The next phase of the distribution is slated for Monday and Jan 17 at Dewan Azalea,” he said.
Mohd Faizal said as of Wednesday, 2,304 heads of household had each received the aid of RM2,000 (from federal and state governments) and the number was expected to rise to 4,500 by the end of this week.
