THE government must provide flood victims with immediate financial aid of between RM5,000 and RM10,000 after disallowing further withdrawals under the i-Citra scheme, Anwar Ibrahim said.

In a statement, the Opposition Leader urged Putrajaya to not burden the people with more bureaucracy and speed up the aid distribution.

“After not allowing any more i-Citra withdrawals, the government must immediately provide financial aid to all affected victims.”

“All victims are now desperate for help, the government must assist the victims (with) at least RM5,000 to RM10,000 depending on the type of losses,” said the Port Dickson MP.

The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) recently said that the EPF Act 1991 does not provide for savings withdrawals for natural disasters.

EPF said in a statement that it is governed by the Act, which stipulates that Account 1 (70% of savings) is designated for retirement, while Account 2 (30%) is meant for discretionary withdrawals aimed at securing a brighter retirement in the future.

“EPF asserts its commitment to helping members rebuild their retirement income adequacy and supports the discontinuation of any further savings withdrawals under i-Citra so members’ retirement future will not be compromised.”

The i-Lestari and i-Sinar withdrawals last year, followed by i-Citra in July, were an exception, it said, as the initiatives were implemented to meet urgent cash flow needs during the movement-control orders and the subsequent economic slowdown.

It said the withdrawals have led to 6.1 million of its members having less than RM10,000 in their accounts, of which 3.6 million have less than RM1,000.

Umno president Ahmad Zahid Hamidi and its Youth head Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki have incessantly lobbied for the EPF to extend the i-Citra programme and allow additional withdrawals of up to RM10,000. – January 3, 2022.