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Monday, 29 December 2014

Najib's insurance excuse 'irrelevant', says PAS

The government's excuse that it is not declaring emergency in the states which have been badly affected by the floods, displacing about 190,000 people, to enable the victims to file insurance claims is "irrelevant", PAS Youth's legal bureau said today.

PAS Youth legal and human rights bureau (Juham) director Noorazmir Zakaria, in a statement today, noted that any individual who files for insurance claims would need to do one specifically for floods beforehand, otherwise they would not be able to claim insurances, emergency or otherwise.

Similarly, he added, even if they had bought such policies before, they could still file for insurance claims because the flooding had occurred before the emergency was declared.

"The excuse is completely irrelevant," Noorazmir (left) pointed out, in rebutting the statement made by Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak yesterday.

Juham also poured cold water on allegations that a declaration of emergency would mean the federal government would be taking over the state government's powers.

"Declaring emergency for natural disasters has nothing to do with state administration. It only pertains to managing the disaster, and not about transferring any power," Noorazmir noted.

'People do not want political rhetorics'

He further said that the people do not want "political rhetorics" at this point in time, and questioned why the federal government appears reluctant to move all federal assets to aid those suffering from the floods.

"I hope the media gives as much coverage to the floods as they did for MH370. People want the latest information on what is happening," he stressed.

Meanwhile, Kelantan flood victim Farish Aziz questioned the excuse as well, seeking "advice" as to whether individuals who did not buy additional coverage for perils such as flooding could still claim such insurance.

"It would be a form of cruelty if those who bought additional flood coverage would still have to pay the premium, yet can't claim damages because an emergency has been declared," he said in a statement.

"I represent the flood victims who would also seek your help in the form of advice regarding our claims for the damages we have suffered," he added.
 

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