THE Penang government has started depositing the one-off RM700 aid to victims of the November 4 and 5 floods  that hit the state.

Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng said the money – RM29.32 million in total – would be transferred into the bank accounts of 41,892 families.

“They should be receiving the aid in their accounts this afternoon.

“Meanwhile, for 5,925 families that have chosen to receive the money in cash, we are holding a ceremony tomorrow to disburse the other RM4.14 million,” he said in an announcement today.

Lim said the RM700 aid per family was the largest amount ever paid in Malaysia for flood relief.

The aid is part of the Penang Bangkit programme set up by the state government to help residents affected by the disaster early last month, which saw over 12,500 people evacuated from their homes.

The programme received RM105 million from the state government. It also received millions in cash donations from the public, the business communities, non-governmental organisations and international donors.

Lim said 48,424 applications for the aid were approved by the state while 1,316 were rejected. 

The rejections were due to false and overlapping applications. Each household is only allowed one application.

Lim said the state was still considering 3,210 other applications, as they required further investigation and documentation.

He said the state was having trouble transferring the aid into the bank accounts of 607 successful applicants because the information they supplied was either inaccurate or the bank accounts were inactive.

Applicants can check the status of their applications on the Penang Bangkit website at www.penangbangkit.com. – December 15, 2017.