Vitriol on i-Citra issue won’t faze me, says PM

 

Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob has been under tremendous pressure to allow further withdrawals from EPF under the i-Citra scheme after the recent floods.

PETALING JAYA: Prime Minister Ismail Sabri Yaakob says he is not affected by social media users criticising him for not approving more withdrawals from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

Recently, there have been numerous calls on social media for the EPF to allow RM10,000 in withdrawals under the i-Citra scheme for those financially affected by the pandemic and the massive floods that hit the country last month.

“Those who are not satisfied will continue to be unhappy. Those who mock me will continue to do so,” he said.

“My work is to take care of the rakyat and social media users can continue with their insults.

“It’s up to them. I’m not affected by it. It doesn’t stop me from continuing to serve the rakyat,” he was quoted as saying by Utusan Malaysia.

He was speaking to the press after launching a programme to help flood victims in Temerloh, Pahang.

Yesterday, FMT reported finance minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz as closing the door on additional withdrawals from the EPF, saying it would only burden the next generation which would have to care for the elderly with no retirement savings.

He said the government had allowed contributors to tap into their EPF savings as an emergency measure to cope with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Now, with the severe flooding that has ravaged parts of the country and the continuing pandemic, there have been calls for another round of withdrawals.

The previous withdrawals were exceptional programmes that “had served their purpose and must come to a definite end”, Tengku Zafrul had said.

Yesterday, a group of EPF contributors gathered in front of the EPF building on Jalan Raja Laut to vent their frustrations over the government’s refusal to approve further withdrawals.

They failed in their bid to meet EPF chief Amir Hamzah Azizan. - FMT