Why Not Cash Rm100 Sara Credit Meant Only For Essentials Says Fahmi

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Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil speaking to reporters at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference here. — Picture by Raymond ManuelPUTRAJAYA, Sept 3 — The government today defended its decision not to give the RM100 one-off special payment in cash, saying the credit is part of a programme meant to help households buy essential goods.
The RM100 credit was distributed under Sumbangan Asas Rahmah, an existing programme to help low-income households, but extended to all adults above 18 years old as a one-time-only payment announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in July.
“There was some criticism by the public and some MPs had asked why not give the RM100 in cash instead of crediting it into our MyKad,” Communications Minister Datuk Fahmi Fadzil told reporters at the weekly post-Cabinet press conference here.
“We’d like to remind them that this is part of Sumbangan Asas Rahmah, a programme to help provide basic goods amid rising cost of living,” he added.
Fahmi also claimed there was an attempt to turn the programme into a racial issue, but he dismissed the allegation as baseless.
“This isn’t true. There are over 7,000 business premises providing basic goods under the programme… they include hyperlocal shops, bumiputera businesses like Mydin and supermarkets that are international in nature,” he said.
More than 2.9 million people have used the Sara credit to buy essential goods within just three days, with total public spending reaching RM192.4 million nationwide, the Finance Ministry (MoF) said in a statement last night.
The third day of the Sara Appreciation implementation recorded the highest transaction volume so far, with more than 1.1 million successful transactions completed as of midnight yesterday.
This was nearly a fourfold increase compared to the previous peak capacity.
MoF said to smoothen the system, the processing capacity has been upgraded from 5,000 to 15,000 queries per minute. - malaymail

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