GEORGE TOWN, March 6 — Pulau Betong assemblyman Datuk Muhamad Farid Saad is demanding for an explanation from the state government on why the one-off RM700 aid was given to those who were not affected by the November 5 floods last year.

The Umno assemblyman claimed there were complaints by residents that those who were not affected by the November 5 floods also received the RM700 payment.

“I received complaints that several people from the same household received the RM700 aid each when the state had said each household is entitled to only one payment,” he said.

Muhamad Farid demanded to know how much the Penang state government had paid out in total so far.

“What are the actual criteria for recipients to be eligible for it?” he asked.

He urged the state government to state how much it had collected for the flood aid and out of the funds collected, how much was spent for the one-off payment to flood victims.

The Penang state government announced the one-off payment to flood victims after the November 5 floods and gave out the payment in December last year.

Penang Chief Minister Lim Guan Eng previously announced that a total of RM35 million was approved for 49,978 households in Penang under the Penang Bangkit one-off flood aid payment.

“It is unfortunate if there was abuse of power in the handling of the flood aid payment,” Muhamad Farid said.

He said it would be wrong if the flood aid payment was used to “take care of their cronies” to get political support.

“If this is true, it is against the state government’s Competency, Accountability and Transparency (CAT) policy,” he said.

He hoped the state government will come clean and explain this, especially to his constituents in Balik Pulau.

When contacted, Penang Bangkit flood aid coordinator Yap Soo Huey said she is aware that there appeared to be mismanagement in one of the constituencies and some fraudulent applications were received.

“A thorough investigation is ongoing and all payments for the constituency has been put on hold pending re-evaluation of all applications received,” she said.

She said the state government has reported the matter to the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission for further investigation.