SELANGOR today announced a second economic stimulus package of RM272.5 million to mitigate the economic effects of Covid-19 in the state. 

With a RM127.8 million ad hoc spending bill announced on March 20, the total allocated by the state for Covid-19 is now RM400 million. 

“I am optimistic that Selangor and Malaysia at large will succeed in overcoming the challenges, as we have done so in the past,” said Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari in a live telecast from his official residence in Shah Alam.

Touting a “whole of government, whole of society approach’, Amirudin said RM8.07 million has been raised for a special Selangor Covid-19 fund by cutting the salaries of the menteri besar, state executive councillors and state representatives.

The state government has also spent RM1.35 million to carry out mass tests on 5,000 people in red zones in Selangor. Additionally, RM1.344 million will be spent to provide meals to frontliners, that include doctors, nurses and other workers at Selangor’s hospitals.

A further RM1.5 million was allocated to assist 2,500 families of frontliners, he added.

Other announcements included a one-off payment of RM200 each to 5,931 hospital workers in Selangor. The payments will be made by Friday.

The Selangor Zakat board (LZS) has also established an operations room at its headquarters from Mondays to Fridays to ensure asnaf needs are met, where a further RM9.5 million, on top of the RM52 million previously allocated, to assist 20,000 B40 families.

Each family will receive between RM200 to RM500, and payments will be made by Friday, said Amirudin.

Licenced food vendors will also receive one-off payments of RM500 each, which can be done via online banking, he said.

All loan repayments of Hijrah Selangor scheme involving 39,818 people have been been deferred for three months, from March 23 to June 15.

There will also be a one-off payment of RM200 to 2,500 Selangor students of public institutions of higher education in Sabah and Sarawak, he said.

LZS has also allocated RM200,000 to prepare meals for frontline workers and public university students.

The Smart Sewa scheme rent payments for 2,7000 people between April and June will be deferred, Amiruddin said.

Selangor has recorded the highest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, with 726 infections, as of today. Thirty-two people in the state have died of the disease.

Amirudin said the state, which had been the “central focus of the nation’s economic activities”, has had to adjust to the “great inconvenience” to battle the coronavirus.

“This pandemic has forced us to halt or postpone our normal routines,” he said, adding that he could not meet his constituents at Sungai Tua and that he also could not attend the funeral of a relative who recently passed away at the National Heart Institute.

Amrirudin called on Malaysians to be resilient and patient in their fight against an “invisible enemy”.

“I am sure that many of us are anxious because we could not see in person our parents or worried our children may be exposed to the virus. We have friends we cannot meet for teh tarik at mamak and there are those who cannot go out with the ones they love.

“I, myself, as a Liverpool supporter, have to make do with the English Premier League being postponed. As you all know, it’s been 30 years since Liverpool has a chance at the championship.” – April 1, 2020.