THE Dewan Negara was told the total assistance distributed to eligible disaster victims from 2020 to 2022 amounted to RM963.65 million.

Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department (Sabah, Sarawak Affairs and Special Functions) Wilson Ugak Kumbong said it included RM5.4 million for 2020, RM113.63 million (2021) and RM844.62 million (2022).

“For the northeast monsoon period, the government had channelled an early allocation of RM330 million to all states to ensure disaster aid could be delivered during the period,” he said during the Senate question and answer session today.

He was replying to a question by Senator Low Kian Chuan who wanted to know whether all allocations for the disaster aid operation had been audited with the breakdown of disaster expenditure from 2020 to date. 

He said almost all disaster operation aid allocations were channelled directly to the related state governments.

“For disaster aid operation expenditure, which was implemented by the National Disaster Management Agency, it was audited by several of auditing bodies,” he said.

Replying to a supplementary question by Senator Rita Sarimah Patrick Insol on the types of aid channelled during the disaster, Kumbang said the government will continue to assist victims who are eligible for assistance such Bantuan Wang Ihsan (BWI) worth RM1,000 to each head of household, as well as RM1,000 to the next of kin of each victim who died in the disaster.

“Apart from that, the Bantuan Barang Keperluan Asas, which is RM2,500 for each head of household and Bantuan Pembaikan Rumah, with a maximum of RM5,000 for each head of household.

“For incidents occurring outside the monsoon period, the government will continue to distribute BWI to eligible heads of household verified by the state and district disaster officers,” he said. – Bernama, June 21, 2023.