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Thursday 9 December 2010

State 'pulls back' RM300 allowance for poor

By Luke Rintod

KOTA KINABALU: Hundreds of predominantly Christian elderly recipients of the monthly RM300 welfare aid in several districts in Sabah have had their monthly "allowance" stopped without any notice.

Up against a gloomy Christmas, a 69-year-old recipient from Kota Belud said he last received his allowance in August this year.

"We really need some money. Christmas is coming... we need some money.

"When I came to the Kota Belud district office the other day to find out what happened to my aid, I was shocked when a staff there told me that I should not be eligible for the aid as I have a handphone and a wristwatch," he said.

The "warga emas" said he was not the only one affected in Kota Belud.

He said the staff in the welfare section were telling other elderly recipients that there would be a new screening on their "houses" to ascertain their eligibility for the aid.

A quick survey of senior citizens found that many recipients of the "bantuan warga emas" in Kota Belud had last received their monthly aid either in July or August this year.

The survey also found that most of those whose allowance was terminated were Christians while Muslim recipients continued to receive the aid uninterrupted for the past four months.

Uncertainty

The federal government increased the state welfare aid, introduced last year, from RM90 to RM300 to the delight of many families, especially old folk, single mothers and the handicapped.

Under the scheme, those who are 60 years and above are eligible to apply for the aid.

The guidelines stipulate that only one member, either the husband or wife, may receive the aid although there seemed to be exceptions in some cases.

Another elderly recipient from Kota Belud, whose aid was also "stopped" without notice in August, was unsure what to do as he had been told to just wait for his monthly RM300 ever since.

"Maybe Barisan Nasional has stopped giving us the money, but why are others still receiving it?" asked a 78-year-old man who requested anonymity.

It is learnt that some single mothers and handicapped persons have also not received their allowance since August or September.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I wished to know what causes the allowance be stopped without notice?

Rukia said...

Could it be that BN might have missed out on them??

Rukia said...

Whatever it is, BN need to pay attention to these people. A promise is a promise. You cant just pull back the rm300 allowance.

mandau said...

why their allowance has pull back?

sarah Jones said...

strange ??!!
Perhaps an error was made.
Best of carry out investigation and find out the reasons why .
Do not simply make an conclusion.

mike said...

what happened? what explanations from the authority?

mike said...

its not an error..its something else..investigation should be conduct..

villager said...

before making any negative responses, better wait for clarification from the government about this issue.

black said...

elaun hanya untuk mereka yang benar2 layak. orang lain juga akan mempertikaikan jika terdapat pihak yang bukan dari kelompok miskin tetapi mendapat bantuan kewangan dari kerajaan. jadi pertikaian ini sentiasa akan berlaku jika tidak ada pihak yang tampil buat penjelasan bagi menyelesaikan kekeliruan ini.

state said...

How come?

akis said...

Macam mana nak tarik balik pula ni? Anti kristian ka ni?

wtyf said...

They can't do this to the folks. RM300 meant a lot to them. They gone nuts.

akun said...

Tak boleh macam ni.

losdf said...

Unacceptable! This is awful!

Anonymous said...

Elaun bulanan RM300 adalah jumlah besar bagi sesetengah golongan seperti warga emas yang tidak menerima sebarang pencen dan wang daripada anak-anak. dan penarikan elaun tersebut akan menyebabkan hidup mereka terbeban...sepatutnya penarikan elaun tersebut diumumkan secara rasmi..

Anonymous said...

sikap pilih kasih adalah langsung tidak boleh diterima di negara kita. sewajarnya hal ini disiasat oleh pihak berkuasa kerana hal ini ada unsur 'diskriminasi agama' yang tidak boleh diterima dalam konsep 1Malaysia!

Anonymous said...

menurut sumber yang dipercayai, ramai golongan warga emas di Kota Belud beragama kristian tidak mendapat elaun tersebut. elaun hanya diberikan kepada warga emas muslim! perkara ni perlu disiasat...sikap DO atau JKKK yang pilih kasih dan diskriminasi agama adalah tidak boleh dijadikan contoh penjawat awam yang baik! yang miskin bukan warga emas muslim sahaja...tetapi juga yang kristian! kalau mereka ada jam tangan dan handphone bukannya menunjukkan mereka kaya? manatau mereka kumpul elaun sehingga mencukupi untuk beli benda-benda tu? adakah kita ada hak untuk tentukan apa yang patut mereka beli?

Anonymous said...

siapa DO Kota Belud? kenapa anda ada sifat pilih bulu dan agama? sikap anda tidak boleh diterima dalam negara yang mengamalkan demokrasi!

Anonymous said...

siasat hal ini! ia menggambar sikap tidak professional!

floly said...

OMG..this is not right..how on earth they dare do such thing??? Someone need to come forward and clear all the mess!!