A RISE in applications for the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma) Covid-19 relief fund has caused a delay in its approval process, an agency official said.

The late payments were not due to Nadma running out of money, said the official, who requested anonymity because he is not permitted to speak to the press.

He told The Malaysian Insight that the agency has been bombarded with new applications in recent months, since Covid-19 infections and fatalities increased.

Besides that, he said it was also time consuming because applicants give incomplete documents when applying for the funding.

He said the number of days required for processing was subject to completion of documents and verifying data to match with the Ministry of Health.

Nadma has been the target of complaints recently that the agency was either too slow or had failed to disburse pay-outs to claimants, especially for families of victims who had succumbed to Covid-19.

In addressing complaints, especially on social media, about Nadma’s communication breakdown between applicants and the agency’s helpline, the official said applicants could instead check the website for the updates on approvals instead of calling or emailing the agency’s helpline.

He said the agency has the funds to cover existing applications.

“The public should be reminded that the Tabung Covid-19 fund is not a mandatory relief fund nor does 100% of the money come from the government itself,” he said.

“It is made up of government, officers, ministers’ pay cuts, corporate bodies and public donations,” he said.

On Wednesday, Twitter user Sham Hardy complained that it has been two months since his younger sibling died of Covid-19, and he had yet to receive Nadma funding.

Sham complained that he called and emailed Nadma and yet there was no response from the agency.

In his tweet, he also said there was a rumour that Nadma had run out of funds and asked why the government had money to renovate the prime minister’s official residence in Putrajaya. 

When contacted by The Malaysian Insight, Sham said Nadma has since approved his application, adding that this was possibly due to his tweets.

Since the relief fund was set up, Nadma has given out a total of RM22.7 million to 17,222 applicants.

Meanwhile, a total of 4,021 relatives have received RM20.1 million for its Bantuan Khas Pengurusan Kematian Covid-19.

The relief fund consists of two parts: Bantuan Khas Covid-19, a relief fund for those who lost their income while going through quarantine, regardless of a positive test.

The second is Bantuan Khas Pengurusan Kematian Covid-19, which is for heirs of Covid-19 victims.

The official also said there have been 52,032 applications for Bantuan Khas Covid-19 – 12,913 of which are ineligible and have been rejected – which are being processed and pending data verification matches.

For the next of kin relief fund, 8,309 applications have been made, of which 12 were rejected.

He said applications can be made by post, online or email and will be processed within 30 working days from the date that the application is received by Nadma (not from the date the sender sends the application).

For more information: http://www.nadma.gov.my/ms/

The Malaysian Insight has also sent an email to Nadma for an official response but has yet to receive a reply. – October 3, 2021.