Tuesday February 5, 2013

BR1M 2.0 attracts early birds

By CALVIN YEO
yeop@thestar.com.my

KUCHING: It was an orderly affair for the hundreds who collected their Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia (BR1M) 2.0 at MBKS Stadium here yesterday morning.

The recipients, who were among the 5,910 eligible for the cash aid here, turned up as early as 7am, queueing up at the entrance of the stadium on the directive of the Rela officers on duty.

They were made to check their names by the government officers on duty at the entrance before they were allowed to go into the stadium to collect their cash vouchers.

An officer-in-charge Mahri Sarpawi, from the Kuching Resident Office, said there were eight counters set up to facilitate the distribution of the cash vouchers.

“If need be, we will open more counters.

“The situation is under control today and there is no untoward incident so far,” he told reporters.

When the BR1M was first distributed last year, it was a scene of chaos at certain premises where the recipients jostled to get to the front line.

SUPP Youth chief Tan Kai who was at the stadium said the party had prepared 10 usherers to assist the older recipients.

“We have even prepared several wheel chairs especially for the old people and those who are physically challenged who may need them,” he said.

He added that those who had applied for the BR1M 2.0 could check their status on the party’s official website.

Kartina Sadjoy who accompanied her father to collect the cash voucher said the distribution yesterday was very orderly.

“It was very messy when I brought my father here to collect the cash voucher last year.

“But today, everything is in order and that really makes it easy for everyone,” she said.

She added that the father received a short messaging notification two days earlier to come for the collection.

Another recipient who wanted to be known only as Safri from Telaga Air, however, went home empty-handed when he was told that his name was not on the list yesterday.

“I came here at 8am but when I checked with the officers on duty, my name is not in the list for distribution today.

“But I was told that they will send me an SMS to notify me when to come again.

“In fact, it would be better if they can just bank in directly into our bank accounts instead of making us come all the way just to collect the vouchers,” he added.

News

Tuesday February 5, 2013

BR1M 2.0 attracts early birds

By CALVIN YEO yeop@thestar.com.my

By CALVIN YEO
yeop@thestar.com.my