KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 18 — A government committee has been set up to prevent corruption in the use of Putrajaya’s RM500 million flood relief for the recent disaster in the east coast.

Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) Chief Commissioner Tan Sri Abu Kassim Mohamed told Malay daily Sinar Harian in an interview published today that the committee comprises MACC, the National Audit Department and the National Security Council (NSC) tasked with managing the flood fund.

“We want to be able to prevent abuses, such as people falsely claiming that their houses were damaged,” Abu Kassim was quoted saying.

“We will also inform people that if they make false claims for the RM500 aid, it is a crime and they can be jailed,” he added.

The MACC chief also said the anti-corruption committee would recruit volunteers to look out for suspicious claims as the committee’s “eyes and ears”.

“They can help us, but we will not give them any identities or allow them to say that they are MACC representatives,” Abu Kassim added.

Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Dr Ali Hamsa was quoted separately by Malay daily Berita Harian as saying that the government will start handing out the RM500 cash aid this week to families affected by the floods, despite not receiving a complete recipient list yet.

NSC secretary Datuk Mohamed Thajudeen Abdul Wahab told Malay Mail Online recently that RM41 million has been approved for 82,000 families that stayed at evacuation centres, who will each receive RM500.

Families who were marooned at home or stayed with relatives or friends will also receive RM500 and were encouraged to register at the respective district offices, Thajudeen said.

He added that the next-of-kin of the 25 flood victims who died during the disaster will get RM5,000, while the Cabinet will decide on how to allocate the rest of the RM500 million fund.

Federal opposition lawmaker Lim Kit Siang has been demanding answers from Putrajaya over its expenses for flood relief efforts so far, claiming that from his visits to the flood-stricken areas of Kelantan, it had been apparent that aid has not been adequately disbursed.

He has also demanded a breakdown of the funds, saying that because Kelantan was the worst-hit, the east coast state should receive the bulk of the allocation.