Thursday December 21, 2006
Cabinet sets aside more funds to help victims cope
KUALA LUMPUR: The Government has agreed to make additional allocations available immediately to help flood victims.
Deputy Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said victims whose homes or household appliances were damaged by the floods would also receive assistance when the situation improved.
“Initially, assistance will be given to victims at the flood relief centres,” he told reporters yesterday after presenting tithe contributions to the Armed Forces Veteran Foundation, the Armed Forces Fund and single mothers at the Defence Ministry here.
Najib said the floods – which have hit several districts in Johor as well as other states and affected thousands – were discussed at the Cabinet meeting yesterday.
Asked whether the Government had issued a disaster alert, he said: “Not yet. We are now monitoring the situation in other states.
“It is difficult to forecast the weather. We had expected areas in the East Coast to be hit by floods. We never expected Johor to be the most affected.”
He said the minister in charge of the matter, Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, had been instructed to go to Johor to monitor the situation and ensure that aid could be channelled to victims immediately. She was in Muar yesterday.
Meanwhile, Human Resources Minister Datuk Seri Dr Fong Chan Onn has called on employers to be sympathetic and not insist that staff members affected by the floods should turn up for work.
“They should instead give these workers unrecorded leave so that they can clean up their homes,” he told reporters in Putrajaya after the Cabinet meeting.
News Poll
- Man posted doctored photos of Nik Aziz
- Heartbreaking wait for mum
- The world just got bigger
- Sodomy II: Judge decision on recusing himself on Feb 18
- Opposition leaders decry court’s ruling
- Thumbs-up for Najib
- 5-0 for BN’s Zambry
- Saiful files report over death threat
- WWF: Orang asli being used
- Weather warning for Perak, Selangor and Sabah
- 60 lose RM25mil in gold investment scam
- Canberra to set new skills list
- MAS offers CNY bargains
- Fleet card cloning ring busted with arrest of trio
- WWF: Orang asli being used
- ‘Flashing candy’ a health hazard: Health Ministry
- Sodomy II: Judge decision on recusing himself on Feb 18
- Toyota puts the brakes on problem
- Manila joins hunt for Semporna gunmen
- Man posted doctored photos of Nik Aziz
RSS
