KUALA LUMPUR: Additional compensation may be provided to farmers whose crops were affected by the floods, says Datuk Seri Mohamad Sabu.
The Agriculture and Food Security Minister said that such compensation has to be discussed with the Finance Ministry.
“I have directed all the ministry staff to give full focus on the floods and assess the damage caused.
“We will look at the existing allocation and we will speed up the damage assessment and payments which need to be paid.
“As to whether there will be extra compensation to the farmers whose crops were affected, such compensations have to be discussed with the Finance Ministry.
“We will only decide on the sum of compensation after we have made our assessments,” he said after launching the Federal Territory Amanah Convention here in Sentul on Sunday (Dec 1).
Mohamad said he will be heading to the East Coast while his ministry’s secretary-general has left for Kedah.
“This is in line with the directive of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim for the Cabinet to focus on the flood victims and the damage caused, “ he added.
On Nov 30, it was reported that more than 26,000 hectares of padi fields under the supervision of the Kemubu Agricultural Development Authority (Kada) and in non-granary areas are expected to be damaged after being submerged by floods over the past few days.
As of 9am Sunday (Dec 1), the number of flood victims housed in temporary evacuation centres has risen to 150,782.
