THE Ministry of Domestic Trade and Consumer Affairs expects to release the list of recipients eligible for the petroleum subsidy programme (PSP) in February, said deputy minister Chong Chieng Jen.

He said the ministry will make an announcement after the data filtering process has been completed.

“Based on data received for the Bantuan Sara Hidup (BSH) welfare programme, cross-checked against the vehicle ownership data from the Road Transport Department (RTD), some 2.9 million individuals are eligible for aid under the programme.

“Meanwhile, 346,491 eligible PSP recipients have updated their bank account details while 480,317 individuals who do not qualify, have submitted their appeals through the PSP portal,” he said during question-and-answer session in Dewan Negara today.

He was replying to Rahimah Mahamad who wanted to know the number of individuals registered as PSP recipients and the number of appeals received, in finalising the exact number of eligible PSP recipients.

Dewan Negara was also told that the daily RM8 assistance given to orphanages is a subsidy or top up provided by the government to welfare voluntary organisations.

Women, Family and Community Development Deputy Minister Hannah Yeoh said the assistance to the voluntary organisations is to give encouragement on efforts to extend help to the needy.

“This daily assistance comes under the RM22 million grant for distribution to various welfare organisations under the Social Welfare Department (JKM) that are managing JKM orphanages to cover the residents’ food and other expenses.

“Orphans who are eligible will also receive aid of RM100 a month as pocket money,” she said in reply to a supplementary question from Mohd Suhaimi Abdullah who wanted to know what other incentives or aid were available for residents at orphanages run by JKM.

Meanwhile, Deputy Finance Minister Amiruddin Hamzah said the ministry will review the operational hours for Urban Transformation Centre from time to time, according to current situation and the government’s financial capability.

He said to facilitate the people who have to deal with the various departments or agencies the ministry will look into the operating costs, operational hours, location and if they are viable for the surrounding community.

He was responding to a question from Ahmad Azam Hamzah who wanted to know if the UTC operational hours will be revised to the former scheduled times as the current timings are not convenient for the public. – Bernama, December 19, 2019.