THE RM300,000 allocation to each member of parliament for the food basket programme will expedite delivery of aid nationwide.
Earlier this week, Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said MPs from both sides of the divide would each receive an additional RM300,000 for food baskets under the Pakej Perlindungan Rakyat dan Pemulihan Ekonomi, or Pemulih.
He said the government realised the importance of basic essentials for the people and had set aside political differences to deliver aid.
A total of RM10 million has also been set aside to help Orang Asli through the Bantuan Bakul Makanan effort.
Santubong MP Datuk Seri Dr Wan Junaidi Tuanku Jaafar yesterday said each parliamentary constituency had its own service centre with data on the number of poor families, besides understanding the needs of residents.
“Delivery will be faster because of less bureaucracy, unlike if it has to go through certain parties or ministries.
“MPs have teams at their service centres and they are closer to their constituents. I feel the government has learned from the previous delivery of food baskets, hence there’s the need to speed up the process,” said Wan Junaidi, who is also entrepreneur development and cooperatives minister.
Pertiwi Soup Kitchen president Datuk Munirah Abdul Hamid said the food basket programme was helpful but care needed to be taken to ensure the aid reaches the right groups.
“Please work with honest non-governmental organisations or non-governmental individuals who know the target groups well. Do not do for the sake of satisfying key performance indicators.
“The needy may not satisfy all requirements. The needy may not have social media applications, so, do a lot of honest groundwork to reach out to the real needy.
“The people who meet all the Social Welfare Department requirements are already getting help, but there are those who cannot meet the requirements or don’t even know about such assistance. Help those,” she told the New Straits Times.
Source: New Straits Times
