Flood Aid Distribution Must Be Colourblind Dpm Says

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Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi reminded local authorities to be “colourblind” when distributing humanitarian aid.
Zahid, who is chairperson of the National Disaster Management Committee, said the distribution of money must be done transparently and fairly.
“We have started payments through district offices and I hope that district offices are colourblind in the distribution,” he said, regarding the distribution of aid for the recent floods.
He cautioned against favouritism, saying he found out that only certain people received the flood aid funds last year.
“This is federal money and we hand it over to state and district agencies for it to be given to victims, and not according to ‘colour’.
“This must be done if they (government agencies) are honest about helping the people,” he said at a press conference after attending a briefing on disaster management in Putrajaya this morning.
On Dec 28, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced aid of RM50 million for victims of floods in Kelantan.
He said the funds will be distributed via the National Disaster Management Agency (Nadma).
On the latest developments of the floods, Zahid said the government is implementing new standard operating procedures (SOPs) for rescuing flood victims.
“Last year, the high rainfall caused high water levels, and this year is even higher, but there are not as many victims as last year.
“This is because we cooperated with MetMalaysia (Malaysian Meteorological Department) for evacuations to be done earlier, as soon as we received notifications from them.
“This is the new SOP in use,” he said.
He added that the disaster management committee is ready to face similar situations in Sabah and Sarawak. - Mkini

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