JOHOR BARU: Johor will begin distributing Bantuan Kasih Johor (BKJ) aid to about 510,000 recipients starting Friday (May 15) amid growing speculation of a possible snap state election.
However, state education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin (pic) dismissed suggestions that the aid rollout was linked to talk of early polls.
"I do not know when the state election will be held, so I cannot comment," he told reporters after an event here on Thursday (May 14).
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Aznan said the aid distribution, which will run until May 30, involved 22 initiatives announced by Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi during the recent state assembly sitting.
"Within the next two weeks, all assistance under phase four of BKJ will be streamlined and distributed according to the categories that have been announced," he said.
He added that the aid would be distributed in phases, similar to previous implementations.
During the state assembly meeting earlier this month, Onn Hafiz announced a fresh round of aid and expanded initiatives to help ease the cost of living, with a RM138mil allocation under BKJ Phase Four.
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He said the new package would benefit more than 600,000 people across various groups, including senior citizens, housewives, small traders and students with disabilities, as part of the state’s continued efforts to safeguard the people's welfare amid global economic uncertainty.
Onn Hafiz added that Johor remained on strong economic footing despite external challenges, recording the highest investment inflows in Malaysia, creating over 80,000 jobs and achieving a state GDP growth of 6.4%.
"State revenue has also surpassed RM2.6bil, with RM1bil already collected as of April this year.
"Every increase in state revenue will be returned to the people through high-impact initiatives that can be directly felt," he said, adding that earlier BKJ phases had already rolled out more than 100 initiatives worth nearly RM400mil.
