THE government should suspend national mega projects and use the funds to provide aid to flood victims, opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim has said. 

The PKR president said the government has no intention of allow those hit by floods to make Employees Provident Fund (EPF) withdrawals, so it must work to solve their problems in other ways.

“If EPF money is said to be unnecessary, then government funding must be necessary.

“There is no need to withdraw money from EPF because a person might be in a difficult situation and their savings might be limited too.

“In such a catastrophic situation, it is the government’s responsibility to ease their burden. 

“They will finish their RM1,000 aid for their meals within a week or two. After that, when they make an inventory they will know the cost of basic losses. That must be covered by the government. 

“Some might need RM10,000, some RM5,000, some RM6,000. Postpone the mega projects like the East Coast Rail Link and Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB), which are worth billions.

“Postpone and pay the people first,” Anwar told reporters after visiting flood-hit Ampangan, Seremban today.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Ismail Sabri said the government had no intention of allowing flood victims to make EPF withdrawals through the i-Citra scheme.

However, Bank Simpanan Nasional (BSN) will now provide an interest-free personal loan of up to RM10,000 to flood victims, instead of the RM5,000 announced last week. 

Finance Minister Tengku Zafrul Abdul Aziz said RM100 million is allocated for this purpose.

Anwar acknowledged the interest free loan given but said that a loan is meant to be paid back, which in return, he claimed would be a hardship for the flood victims. 

“This loan, to a poor man, would have a severe effect on him,” he said. – December 27, 2021.