PUTRAJAYA, Jan 2 — Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi today told district offices in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang to be colour blind when channelling aid to flood victims.
He said only certain flood victims received the aid last year citing “colour” as the main reason.
“We have started making payments through the district offices. I hope the district offices be colour blind in terms of distribution.
“I found out last year only certain ‘colours’ received it. This is federal money that we hand over to state and district agencies to give to the victims involved,” he said in a press conference after the disaster management briefing, here.
“They will definitely do it if they honestly want to help the people,” he added.
The Bagan Datuk MP said the flood water-level in Kelantan, Terengganu and Pahang is higher than last year, but affected fewer victims.
“This is because we are working closely with the Malaysia Meteorological department to evacuate the people when we receive the notification. This is our new SOP,” he said.
As of 6am today, the number of flood victims in three states increased slightly this morning to 80 people in four relief centres, compared to 70 people in three relief centres at midnight.
According to the latest report issued by the National Disaster Management Agency’s National Disaster Command Centre, in Pahang, flood evacuees rose to 29 people who took shelter in two relief centres in Maran and Temerloh, compared to 19 people in one centre in Maran earlier.
